Destined
by ttfan111robstar1
Summary: The long awaited sequel to "Accidents" is finally here! Seto Kaiba is used to fatherhood, but is thrown when love comes walking through his office door. Now he'll have to face the feelings he hid inside, find a balance between love and family, and help his son adjust to someone else being privy to their secret. It all culminates in a decision that will change their family forever.
1. Destined

**Author's Note: Hello you beautiful readers of mine! It's good to finally give you the sequel you've all been waiting for! I can only hope to live up to your expectations! This story is dedicated to SB-129. Thanks for the idea and all of your continued support! I hope you enjoy this story! Please Review!**

It had been a few weeks since Kaiba had come home from the hospital. His son had been attentive to him in those first few days at home, and as Seto's strength gradually returned he was able to begin taking care of Mokuba again. Now they were back in their routine, and nothing could throw them off of it.

At least, that's what they thought.

It began as a normal day.

Seto helped Mokuba get ready for school, had breakfast, sent his son to school, then headed off to work. He reviewed his documents, sat through a meeting with his board of directors, and had lunch, when his receptionist buzzed him.

"Mr. Kaiba, your 12:30 is here."

"Send them in." The faster he got through with this meeting, the better.

The door opened, and Kaiba stopped in his tracks.

The slender woman in the doorway wore a dark red v-neck dress and suit jacket with matching heels, all of which brought out the light blue hue of her hair. Her eyes were the same shade of blue as her hair, and her cheeks were flushed pink. An expensive looking silver choker encircled her neck, and a matching bracelet was on one wrist. She looked to be his age, and seemed so delicate and dainty, but her eyes were ferocious and hyper focused. She was a business woman through and through.

Kaiba instantly felt a jolt of physical attraction to her. But his face gave nothing away. Not even a second had passed, and yet for him, the world had somehow shifted. Things were slightly askew now, not quite as they had been. He felt as if he had stumbled upon a parallel universe. Everything looked the same, but was totally different.

"Seto Kaiba?" Her voice was like a bell, shimmering and shaking him to his core. He stood up.

"Yes?" His voice came out less sure than he wanted it to. He kicked himself for giving himself away like that.

"My name is Kisara Mishima. I'm the president of Mishima Enterprises." She held her hand out and he shook it, but couldn't help but notice how soft her hands were, and the feeling of regret that bubbled up in him when she let go.

"Pleased to meet you. Please, take a seat." He sat back down at his desk and studied her as she sat down. She was fluid in her movements, and her legs were striking. She laid her hands carefully in her lap, but her posture was too straight to be relaxed. She was tense, obviously worried about the deal. But her face gave nothing away. It was her mask, he saw now. The face she wore when she didn't want someone to see what she was really thinking. He wondered how she had learned to construct it. It took him only seconds to notice these things about her. "Would you like some coffee or water?"

"No thank you," she said crisply. "I prefer to get right to business."

"As you wish." His voice was neutral, but he hid his fascination and amusement with her under the surface. "What brings you here today?"

"Mr. Kaiba-"

"Seto."

She blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"It's Seto. Mr. Kaiba was my stepfather." It wasn't entirely a lie. It was more of an excuse to hear her say his name.

"Very well then. Seto, I'll get right to the point. Mishima Enterprises would love to partner with the Kaiba Corporation. We provide high quality, ecologically friendly gaming equipment to companies all over the world. Our partners have a very high profit margin from using our products, and have seen a 30% jump in business since switching to our equipment." She handed him a folder. "It's all in here."

He flipped it open to see what he expected: facts, figures, graphs, and pie charts galore. Normally he would have given it a thorough read through, but she was distracting him. She was so close that he could smell her perfume, and it was intoxicating his senses, making him dizzy. He pretended to look it over, asking a question or two to make it seem like he was taking it all in, when all he was really taking in was her. Her beauty, her voice, her scent. He got to the back of the folder and closed it, putting his poker face back on.

"I'll have to talk this over with my board of directors. May I have your contact information so that we can set up another meeting to discuss the decision say, over lunch?"

"Certainly." She handed him a business card with her name and information on it, and he couldn't help but notice her freshly manicured fingers that were long, like a pianists. He put the card on his desk.

"I'll have my secretary contact you with the date and time of our next meeting." He handed her a card of his. "Feel free to call if you have any questions about our organization or if you need to reschedule."

"I will. Thank you, Seto." She extended her hand once more and he shook it again more firmly this time, lingering one second longer than normal as he tried to memorized the silky smooth feel of her hands.

"You're welcome, Miss Mishima. May I escort you to your car?"

Surprise flickered across her features for half a second before she smiled. "You may. Thank you."

She took the opportunity to launch into another speech about her company, but Seto was only half listening. She was so dangerously close to him, and he yearned to reach out and close the half inch distance between them to hold her hand. The walk to her car was shorter than he would have liked, and he watched her climb into her limousine with a forlorn feeling. She smiled a megawatt smile at him, one he knew he would never forget, before the door closed, the window rolled up, and the car drove away, leaving a bewildered Seto in her wake.


	2. Head Games

Seto Kaiba was a man of logic. He spent most of his time working with facts and figures, and dealing with data. The realm of emotions was not something he was well versed in. Since becoming a father, he had learned how to access his feelings and be emotionally available for his son. But to everyone else he was still as cold, cruel, and vindictive as ever. Nothing should have been able to penetrate the steel wall that he had built around his emotions, which is why he was flummoxed by what he now felt. He returned to his office and sat down in his chair, trying to understand what had happened to him just now. He couldn't stop thinking about Kisara. The way she walked into his office, the color of her eyes, the scent of her hair... He shook his head, trying to clear it. What was he _thinking_? He had a son to take care of and a business to run. He couldn't afford to waste his time thinking about some girl he didn't even know. Even though he thought the words, he immediately berated himself for calling her "some girl". Deep inside, he knew she was more than that. But for now, he refused to acknowledge it. Still, he couldn't help looking at her business card over and over again, reminding himself that she was real. He continued on with his day, hoping that if he pretended that things were business as usual then maybe they would be.

Across town, Kisara sat in her limousine, unsettled by her meeting with the head of Kaiba Corp. She had seen him on TV at press interviews, heard him on the radio with statements, and seen his picture in magazines more times than she could count, but this was the first time she'd ever really seen him, and it was something she knew she'd never forget. He was tall and lean, and his blue eyes were so intense and focused that it made her stomach squirm inside her. When she saw him she was suddenly aware of the pimples she'd covered up on her face and the spots on her legs she might have missed while shaving. She became self conscious of how quickly she was talking and how she seemed to repeat certain words too many times. As conscious as she was of herself, she was even more conscious of him. The deep, rich timbre of his voice, the firm grip of his hand, and the scent of his cologne. He was almost a perfect stranger and yet she couldn't seem to get him out of her head. She held his card in her hands and accepted the fact that maybe she had started forming a crush.

Seto finished working and took his limousine to Mokuba's school to pick him up. Normally the chauffeur would just pick him up alone, but he needed a distraction after the day he had, so he stood in front of the limo, knowing his son would always take his mind off of work woes. When Mokuba saw him standing in front of the school, his eyes lit up and he ran into his father's waiting arms. They hugged briefly, and then climbed inside the limo.

"Daddy, what are you doing here?" Mokuba asked happily.

"I came to surprise you." Said Seto. It wasn't a complete lie. Mokuba snuggled into him.

"You did! I missed you." He said, smiling. Kaiba grinned.

"I missed you too, buddy." He said, stroking his son's hair. Mokuba talked to him the entire way home, and it was a perfect distraction. The entire day as he took care of his child, he was engrossed with making him happy and comfortable, but when he laid down for his nap, Kaiba was left without a distraction and couldn't get out of his own head. He tried to work, but it was useless. When he went on his laptop he felt compelled to look up pictures of Kisara. In every picture she was shown as a young woman poised to take the business world by storm, but he saw something else entirely when he looked at her.

She was never photographed with a man. She was always alone, or with her female security team. All the partners of her company were female. There was no mention of a man in her life in any of the articles he read. This pleased him a tiny bit inside, although he didn't know why.

He ended up reading her entire life story, and found it disturbingly similar to his own. She was orphaned at a young age and adopted by the Mishima family, who died in a fire when she was eleven. Because she was the sole heir, she inherited every part of their empire. She made a few changes to the company, but nothing as major as what he had done. Soon Mishima Enterprises was the most successful ecologically friendly electronics company in Domino. Although he would never say so out loud, he admired her ambition and business savvy.

His learning session was cut short by a cry from the nursery, and Kaiba instantaneously responded. For the next six hours he immersed himself in the duties of fatherhood, only thinking of Kisara once in the entire stretch. But when his son was asleep and he was lying in bed that night, her image came back into his mind, haunting him once more. He found himself reliving every moment of their meeting, lingering on the details. He couldn't stop himself from wondering when he'd see her again. He wondered what she'd wear, and what she'd say. He already knew that he was planning on partnering with her company. He told himself it was solely for business reasons, but he knew that was a lie. He just wanted an excuse to see her again. As he lay there, trying to get to sleep, one thought kept repeating itself over and over again: What had he gotten himself into?


	3. Serendipity

**Author's Note: It's a double chapter day! Thanks to SB-129 for all your encouragement! Enjoy the chapter!**

Three long days went by, and Seto found himself utterly bored at work. The running of his business paled in comparison to his thoughts of Kisara. She had captured his attention in a way that no one else had been able to. He held a meeting with his board of directors, who all agreed unanimously that a partnership with Mishima Enterprises was a good business decision. Seto didn't even have to put in a good word, and was pleased to find that his opinion of her business was not a one sided affair. He had told his secretary to call her immediately to schedule a meeting, and today was the day that worked well for her. Seto had prepared meticulously for this day. He had chosen his clothes carefully, dressing in a white suit, blue shirt and tie, and white shoes. He put on his favorite cologne, and shaved his face carefully. He had been careful not to get any of his clothes dirty. Now, he was in his limo on his way to one of the most expensive and private restaurants in Domino. He arrived and was discreetly ushered in by his security team. He was led to a private room reserved for the highest clientele, and sat at a table covered with a white silk table cloth and linen napkins. Then, he waited.

She arrived not five minutes later, carrying a briefcase, wearing a black dress with a deep V-Neckline, a little collar, and slim belt around the waist. A black necklace hung around her neck, and a beaded bracelet was on her wrist. She wore black peep toe heels with T-Straps on her feet. It was a look that said business professional, but he could picture her in the bedroom wearing the same thing. He almost blushed at the thought, but he had to maintain his professionalism. He stood up and went over to shake her hand. It still felt the same as he remembered, soft and smooth.

"Miss Mishima. Pleasure to see you again." He said, keeping his voice smooth.

"And you." He led her to her seat and pulled her chair out for her. They ordered salads for an appetizer, and then were alone.

"Let's get down to business, shall we?" He said. She nodded crisply.

"Certainly."

"I've discussed things with my board of directors and we would be glad to partner with Mishima Enterprises."

She smiled a wide grin, and it showed off her perfectly white teeth and red lips.

"Excellent."

"Shall we discuss the terms of our contract?"

"Of course."

The two of them spent the next twenty minutes outlining their expectations for the partnership. Their thinking was similar, so there weren't many things contested when they outlined the finer points of the agreement. By the time their entrées arrived the business side of things was done. Seto used the lull in conversation to try and learn more about her.

"Tell me about yourself." He said, cutting into his filet mignon.

She looked up as if he'd called her name, surprised for an instant before she recovered.

"What would you like to know?"

"Anything. I like knowing the people I go into business with."

"I duel."

He looked up, caught off guard by that. "Really?"

"Not competitively, but yes."

"What kind of deck do you run?"

She went on to describe her deck, and could see she caught his attention.

"What about you? What's your deck like?" She knew already, of course. She'd done her research on him before she ever stepped into his office, but to hear him talk about it with such passion was exciting.

"You're very talented." She said after he finished. The slight smirk he gave her made heat flood through her. There was one other ace in the hole that she knew would make him talk.

"How is your little brother doing?"

His fork actually stopped mid-air when she asked him that, and she saw something flash through his eyes- some emotion she couldn't name. For a moment she wondered if she'd said something wrong. And then, like that, his whole face changed. It lit up, like an inner light had been turned on inside of him. He became lively and animated, and she could see that she had found what he was really passionate about. He loved the business world, he loved to duel, but he loved his little brother more.

Kaiba could see interest in her eyes, and it made him feel good. Maybe he wasn't the only one thinking about things other than business.

"What do you like to do?" He asked her.

"I like to draw and swim. I like to shop on my days off. And I enjoy dancing."

"What kind of dancing?"

"Ballroom."

He nodded. He hadn't expected anything less. The check was dropped on their table, and he paid for it all. He found himself saddened that the day had ended so quickly. Although she never said anything, so did Kisara. They stood at the same time, pushed in their chairs, and readied themselves to say goodbye.

They stood a foot apart as they were about to say goodbye. Seto put his arm out, ready to shake her hand again, even though deep inside he wanted so much more. She put her hand in his, and he was made aware of how small her hand was compared to his own. A jolt of physical attraction hit them both like lightning. Seto stared into her eyes, losing himself in the pools of blue. He saw her pupils dilate when she saw him. She looked so fragile to him suddenly, like she was made of porcelain instead of flesh and bone. He was sure his heart missed a beat when her stare fixed on him. Unconsciously, he started to move toward her, not noticing that she was mirroring him. Then, before he even realized what he was doing, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers in a surprising kiss.


	4. Trust

**Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry for not updating yesterday, but I was feeling awful. A very special thanks goes to SB-129, who will be my partner in crime for this story. I hope you guys love the story!**

In the seconds following the kiss, three things happened.

One: both of them felt a flush of heat and passion as their lips connected.

Two: both of them leaned into one another.

Three: their lips parted simultaneously.

They stared into one another's eyes, searching for a glimmer of insight into how the other was feeling. Kisara saw surprise in Seto's eyes. She wasn't sure if it was surprise at the fact that he kissed or the fact that she had responded in kind. It made her feel uncertain, but Seto felt far more uncertain than she did in that moment. It took him a moment to actually comprehend what he'd done, and it shocked him to say the least. He'd been kissed before- of course he had- but he'd never been the one doing the kissing. This was something completely new, and he wasn't sure how to handle it. He looked into her eyes for a clue, and saw an emotion that he couldn't quite name. Kisara saw that he was looking to her for a reaction, so she smiled at him, and it took his breath away.

"That's one way to seal a business deal." She murmured.

Seto didn't know if he was sane or hysterical when he laughed. Or when he reached out to take her hand and said,

"Would you like to come over sometime?"

She blushed at the physical contact, but didn't pull away, which gave him an unfamiliar surge of hope, although he didn't know exactly what it was he was hoping for. She smiled and nodded.

"I'd love to. I have time today if that works for you."

He nodded, and turned toward the door. She didn't let go of his hand, and he was grateful. It gave him something to focus on, to let him know that this was reality. They hurried into his limo, with Roland covering them from any press trying to get pictures of them. The limo sped off toward the manor, both passengers quiet and unsure of just what would happen next.

They arrived at the manor and Kaiba led her inside.

At first glance, the manor looked like what she expected: marble floors, chandeliers, expensive furniture. But upon closer inspection, it was more homey than she had expected. There were family pictures on the tables, and the couches were a little worn, as if many nights had been spent on it watching TV together.

"Your home is beautiful." She said sincerely.

"Thank you. Would you like a tour?" He asked. She nodded politely as he led her into the kitchen, upstairs to Mokuba's room, his study, and paused in front of his bedroom door. He looked over at Kisara, who was smiling at him. It sent an electric current through him.

He opened the door to show her his room. She eyed it, taking in the desk, the bed. She inferred from that that he spent most of his time working than sleeping. She stepped in, familiarizing herself with the surroundings.

"Is this where you come up with your dueling strategy?"

"Actually that's more in the living room." Shock crossed her features.

"That surprises me."

"Why's that?"

"It just seems like you would need a lot of privacy for that sort of thing."

"When you're as good as I am you can do it anywhere."

She smiled. "I don't doubt that."

"Want to see where it happens?"

"Sure."

He took her back down to the living room and took her to the armchair in one corner.

"That's it?"

His eyebrows raised in surprise. "What were you expecting? A chair with a supercomputer attached to it?"

The comment made her smirk. "Something like that."

She was about to turn around to ask for some water when a glimmer of light caught her eye. She crossed the room to where a grand piano was positioned by the wall. She ran her hand over the glossy black surface of the piano before she lifted the cover up off of the keys, and pressed one. It was perfectly tuned. Her fingers grazed the ivory keys and she looked up at Seto.

"Do you play?"

He tried to fight off a grimace. "I used to."

Her gaze sharpened. "Why did you stop?"

He considered that for a second. "I guess I lost my muse."

She stepped toward him. "Can you play me something? I've always wanted to learn to play but I've never had the time."

Although the idea wasn't pleasant, he went over and sat on the bench and began playing Beethoven's Fur Elise from memory while Kisara watched in fascination. Seeing the thrilled look on her face and wanting to see it again, he played her another song when that one ended. This time though, he played one that he felt was more romantic, following his intuition. When it was over, she leaned down and kissed him gently.

"Thank you." She breathed. He nodded, unable to find his voice.

Finally, he regained his wits again and stood up. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Water please."

"Regular or sparkling?"

"Either is fine."

They both sat on the couch as Hobson got their drinks. They began talking together about their professional lives and lost track of time as the hours slipped by.

It wasn't until three hours later that Seto glanced at a clock and realized that Mokuba would be home any minute. His eyes widened and he felt himself getting flustered. What was he going to tell him about Kisara? More so, what was he going to tell Kisara about Mokuba? He knew his son well enough to know that he would come running in calling for his Daddy. How was he going to explain that to her and make her _understand_? That thought made him stop in his tracks. He wanted to tell her about his son. He wanted her to understand this, but how had he gotten to this point? How had she managed to bypass the layers of protection he had put over his heart and become someone he trusted so quickly? He didn't have time to think it over. Mokuba would be home at any time, and he didn't have time to make her a nondisclosure agreement. He would have to go with his gut and trust her.

Kisara saw the alarm in his eyes and put a hand on his shoulder. "Seto? What is it? What's wrong?"

Seto looked at her, dazed. He quickly looked at her and took both of her hands in his own.

"I'm about to trust you with my greatest secret. No one knows about this except my staff and a few other people, and they've all signed an NDA. It can't go public or a lot of people could be put in danger. _Please_ promise me that you won't tell anyone else about this."

Kisara saw the seriousness in his eyes and nodded. "I swear."

He saw the honesty in her own blue eyes and couldn't hold it back any longer. "Mokuba isn't my brother anymore. A few months ago I adopted him as my own son."

Her eyes widened as she took in the new information, but she didn't seem to be surprised. She just nodded. Before he could say anything more, the door burst open and Mokuba came running in.

"Daddy! Da-" he paused when he saw that they had a guest. His cheeks flushed red. Seto went over to him, but not before Mokuba saw that he was holding her hand. Mokuba wrapped his arms around his father, hiding slightly behind him, embarrassed.

"Mokuba, this is Kisara. She's our newest partner."

Mokuba took notice of the fact that he didn't say she was KaibaCorp's newest partner. He said our. She smiled at him, and he could see the kindness shining in her eyes. He stepped out from his Daddy a little.

"Hello Mokuba. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hi." He murmured, quietly. Kisara got up, suddenly feeling as if she had overstayed her welcome.

"Well, I'd better get home and fax my lawyers our contract. It was a pleasure meeting the two of you." She flashed them a winning smile.

"I'll walk you out." Said Seto.

Mokuba watched his Daddy lead her out the door, then ran to the window and watched their close proximity, suddenly feeling a sense of panic.

His Daddy had once told him that no one could ever come between them, and that he was the only thing that mattered to him, but Seto's posture and body language told him a different story. With a child's clear perception, he could see that Kisara clearly _mattered_ to his Daddy.

She mattered very much.


	5. Talk

When Kisara left, Kaiba stood there a moment, confused. He couldn't quite make sense of what had happened to him today. It was like someone had smothered all of his senses and was just now letting him use them. He felt a jolt of fear sweep through him as he remembered what he'd done that day, and wondered for the first time what on earth had come over him. He glanced back at the house to see Mokuba looking at him through the window with wide eyes. And that's when he knew he needed to talk to someone about what was going on. There was only one name that came to mind, so he pulled out his cell phone and made the call before hurrying inside to his son.

He swept Mokuba into his arms and held onto him like a life preserver, clutching him to his chest. His son was the only thing that made sense right now. He took him to the nursery and changed him, then gave him Spike to hopefully keep him calm. He played with him as long as he could before the doorbell finally rang. He leapt up with relief and opened the front door to see Charlotte and Kobe standing there. Kobe ran in and immediately wrapped Mokuba in a tight hug before leading him upstairs. When Seto was sure Mokuba was distracted, he turned to Charlotte and let her inside, his entire posture changing as the weight of his problems weighed on his shoulders. He led her to the kitchen and made her a cup of coffee before he actually sat down at the table.

"You look awful." She commented, hands wrapped around her mug as she took a sip of coffee. Seto didn't bother denying it.

"I know."

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong or am I going to have to pull it out of you?"

Seto sighed. "To be honest, I'm not even sure if I know what the problem is."

Charlotte studied him for a long moment, trying to figure out where to begin. His body was hunched over his coffee, something she'd never seen him do before. She could tell it was something very serious to him. She hesitantly reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

"What is it? Is it about Mokuba?" She asked gently.

Seto shook his head. "No, no... Mokuba's fine..."

"Then what is it?"

"I... I don't know how to explain..."

"Just start from the beginning and go from there." She said calmly.

"I had an appointment with someone in my office." He began. "I didn't think twice about it. So many people come in and out of there that it was natural to just not worry. But then she came in and completely threw me off balance. I've never seen anyone like her. She's... She's just..." He couldn't find the right words to describe her. "We talked, about business mostly, and made an appointment to see each other again today. We formed a partnership. I was about to leave when I kissed her... And she kissed me back." Charlotte looked surprised, but he didn't notice, too caught up in his story to notice. "I invited her over. And she blew me away. I did things I never thought I'd ever do. I played the piano for her... I told her about Mokuba..."

"You told her about this?" She asked, shocked.

"Not all of it. Just the adoption."

She relaxed a little at that. "Seto... I know you don't take others opinions very well, but do you mind if I tell you what I see?"

He shrugged. "Why not?"

"I see that this girl has brought you happiness. I see that she has made you smile. I see that she has made you open up about yourself. And I see that you are falling for her."

"That's ridiculous!" He countered immediately. "I don't love anyone else besides myself, my son, my company, and my blue eyes!"

"You said I could tell you what I see. That's what I see. As someone who's been married before, I can see the signs. You can deny it or accept it, but you cannot hide from the truth. Sooner or later it will catch up with you. You need to be ready for it."

Her words were so piercingly honest that they overrode his defenses and made impact with him. Still, he couldn't surrender to the fact that she was right, so he ordered her to get out of his house. She obliged him, knowing that sooner than she thought, he would come around.

That night, Seto Kaiba lay awake in bed, wondering if Charlotte's words were true. He poured over every moment he spent with Kisara and found that he couldn't get her off of his mind. Her smile, her scent, her hair... Everything about her sent him into a tizzy. He had to face the facts: he was falling hard and falling fast. Admitting it to himself was the first step to solving the problem, but there was much more to it than that. He had to figure out how he would explain this to his son. He had to find a way to make him see what a positive thing this could be for the two of them. He just couldn't figure out what to say. How could he convince him that this wasn't a separation or abandonment, but a new person to care about and enjoy? Kisara Mishima had become a part of Seto Kaiba's very private world, but he couldn't figure out how to make her a part of Mokuba's too. And that's what worried him. More so, how could he tell her about the most important part of Mokuba's life without his consent? The answer came easily: he couldn't. Before he could figure out what their relationship was, he had to get Mokuba on board. If his son didn't like her, he knew he couldn't go through with pursuing any kind of relationship with her. Tomorrow he would get his son's opinions out in the open and hopefully convince him to give her a chance, but for now, he would catch up on his sleep.


	6. Secrets

**Author's Note: To the guest who called Kisara a Mary Sue:** **Of course she seems that way. I've only had five chapters to flesh out her character, and I've spent most of them figuring out Seto's feelings. Now that he's figured them out to an extent, I can focus on expanding on Kisara. Without further adieu, here is Kisara's chapter.**

Miles away, Kisara sat in her limousine, feeling more anxious by the second. She rolled down her privacy window and barked at her driver to drive home faster, as the words Seto had said to her spun around in her head.

 _I'm about to trust you with my greatest secret. No one knows about this except my staff..._

Secret... the word always gave her panic attacks. The secret he had shared with her was quite important, but it wasn't one that she considered a _real_ secret.

Secrets were the things packed in boxes and stored in the dark so no one could see them. Secrets were the shameful things that could never see the light of day. Secrets were the things that made you a monster. If he knew her secrets, he'd never want to see her again.

She had seen it in his face when he looked at her. She could see the thoughts written across his forehead. He thought that she was perfect. She had made him see what he wanted her to see. If he had seen the real her, he would be gone, and she could never bear that.

When the limo pulled up to the house, she jumped out and ran inside, bolting to her bathroom and flinging open the medicine cabinet door. She grabbed the bottle of prescription pills and twisted the cap off, desperately pouring two pills into her hands. Then she grabbed the water glass by the sink and downed them both in one gulp. She put the glass down and held herself up by the sink, trying to calm down and out run the memories overtaking her mind. The pills would take a while to kick in anyways, so she decided to take a shower to try and relax.

She took the makeup off of her face and then started the shower. She got undressed and then stepped in the warm spray, looking down at her body the way she did every time she got in.

The makeup she strategically placed all over her body washed away, showing the burns she worked so hard to hide. For a moment when she was over at Seto's manor she had thought that he wanted to make love to her, and the thought had made her panic because she didn't want him to see these. The scars that showed the monster she really was.

She had been adopted by the Mishima family at age five, but quickly found that her dreams of a perfect family were about to be shattered. Her adoptive mother was jealous of her beauty, so she often made her dress in old and tattered clothing unless the family was going out somewhere. But her adoptive father was even worse. He took advantage of her when she was too young to understand what was happening. He would creep into her room at night and put her on the floor, telling her what a good little girl she was and how beautiful she was. When she got older she had tried to fight, and he responded with violence, beating her into submission. The Mishima's only son was treated like a prince, groomed to take over the company. When asked why they adopted her, her mother and father told her they needed one more child to be a picture perfect family.

One day at the age of eleven, she decided that she had had enough of their mistreatment. She had never believed in any sort of religion, but she had decided to try and use magic to curse her new family. While trying to make unfortunate things happen to them, she had knocked a candle over and set the whole house ablaze. The fire had caught on her dress, burning parts of her stomach and breasts as she tried to escape. Luckily her room had an open window and she was able to jump through to safety. But even from the street she could hear her family screaming inside.

She had never fully recovered from that day. Her doctors had diagnosed her with PTSD and an anxiety disorder, putting her on medication to help with the symptoms. She had learned from her adopted brother everything there was to know about running a company, and so she had been able to take over as head of Mishima Enterprises.

As the workers she hired built a new home for her from the ash and rubble of her old one, she built herself a new life. She learned to smile again and to find happiness in her life. Yet there were some effects from the fire that just couldn't be reversed. She snapped at her staff when they startled her, and screamed at them if they used fire in her kitchen. She had panic attacks around men that came near her house, and when she heard police sirens on the street. But still, she had felt that something had been missing in her life. She hadn't known what it was until she met Seto. She had felt this instant sense of camaraderie with him that she hadn't found with anyone else. There had been this feeling of mutual understanding between them that she had never experienced before. When she looked at him, she didn't feel as broken as she usually did.

She should have been terrified of him. After all her stepfather had done to her she should have been terrified of men. It was why her security team was completely female, and why her staff at home was too. But he didn't terrify her. For some reason, he soothed her, and she couldn't figure out why. There was something so familiar about him, but she couldn't place what it was.

She washed her hair, finally feeling the calming effects of her medication beginning to kick in, and then stepped out of the shower. She made sure the mirror was fogged up so that she couldn't see the ugly burns and scars on her body, and then got redressed.

Then, she went to her study to work for a while before she laid down and went to bed. As she slept, she dreamed.

 _Four year old Kisara ran down the street of Domino City. She had run away from the orphanage she was being cared for at, and had finally stopped running at the park. She sat down on a bench near the playground, trying to catch her breath._

 _"Hey, are you okay?" A voice asked her._

 _She looked up to see a boy with brown hair and blue eyes staring at her. He held out a water bottle to her._

 _"You look thirsty." He said._

 _She smiled a little and took a drink. The water soothed her throat._

 _"Thank you." She said. He hopped up on the bench beside her._

 _"My name's Seto. What's yours?"_

 _"I'm Kisara."_

 _"What are you doing here?"_

 _"I'm running away."_

 _"From where?"_

 _"Home."_

 _"Oh." He said quietly. "Do you need somewhere to go?"_

 _She nodded._

 _"Maybe you can come stay with me."_

 _She smiled. "Really?"_

 _He nodded. "Sure. Come on."_

 _He took her over to where his parents sat on the bench. He told them she needed somewhere to stay, and they offered their home to her for the night, but before they could do anything more, two police officers ran up and grabbed her from behind. Tearfully, she was led away from the sad eyed little boy and his family._

Kisara awoke with a start, and then smiled.

 _I knew you were familiar, Seto. And now that I've found you again I will never let you go._


	7. Reassurance

The next day was Kaiba's day off, and he had planned it meticulously. He started it at Ten in the morning. He got up at nine, worked out, showered, and dressed, and then got Mokuba up. He changed him, bathed him, helped him dress, and then led him downstairs to eat breakfast. After a breakfast of eggs, toast, pancakes, and sausage, Seto took his son to the park to play. When he felt Mokuba had burned some energy off, they went to Kaibaland and went on some of the rides there. When lunchtime rolled around, Kaiba took Mokuba to a private room to talk and eat. After they were served their food and left completely alone, Kaiba spoke up.

"Are you having a fun day?" He asked. Mokuba nodded happily.

"Yeah! So is Spike!" He said, pulling his beloved dragon a little closer.

"Is he?

"Uh huh!"

Kaiba smiled at his enthusiasm, but then grew more serious. "Can I ask you both something?"

Mokuba nodded, picking up on the subtle change in his Daddy's tone.

"What do you and Spike think of Kisara?"

Mokuba's fork paused in midair, some of his noodles falling off. Kaiba wasn't sure how to take that. It was a moment or two before he spoke.

"I dunno." He shrugged, indifferently.

"Would you want her to spend more time around us?" He figured it best to get the big question out of the way now. Mokuba stared at him, not in surprise, but something else.

"Well... she's really pretty and she seems nice." The words were said hesitantly. Seto could see that something was troubling his child. "I guess so... But..."

"But what?" Seto asked, concerned. Mokuba mumbled something to himself. Seto went over to him and tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. "Mokie, what's going on with you?" He asked as gently as he could manage.

"Well... I guess I'm just scared."

"Scared? Of what?"

 _I'm scared that you won't love me anymore._ He thought the words, but they wouldn't come out. He shook his head, clamming up.

"Mokuba... What are you afraid of? You need to tell me what it is so I'll know how to deal with it." When Mokuba finally did look up to him, it was with teary eyes.

"I don't want you to forget about me." He croaked. "I don't want you to not love me anymore because you have someone else... I don't want you to replace me..." The words were meekly said, but full of sincerity. Seto automatically flinched away from the words as if they were objects poised to hurt him. The action was enough to break Mokuba's walls, and suddenly he sobbing desperately, his fears finally out in the light. For a second or two Seto was too stunned to react before his instincts kicked in. He pulled his son into a fierce embrace, cuddling him and rocking him back and forth as soothingly as he could manage.

"It's okay." He whispered, rubbing circles on his back. "Oh Mokie... I'm so sorry."

The words stopped his sobbing and rendered him completely motionless as he looked up at his Daddy in confusion.

"W-What?"

"Mokuba, I would never ever replace you. There's no one who could ever take your place. Nobody could make me smile like you do. No one could make me laugh the way you do. No one could make me proud the way you do. There's only room for one baby boy in my heart, and you're it." He promised.

"But what about Kisara?"

"Just because I met someone doesn't mean they can replace you. I would never go along with this without your blessing. You are the most important thing in my life, and I will always put you first."

Mokuba smiled brightly at him and threw his arms around his neck.

"I love you, Daddy." He said, holding him tightly.

"I love you too, buddy." He said, quietly. When the hug ended, Seto looked up at his son and put his hands on his shoulders.

"So, are you really okay with her coming around more often?"

Mokuba nodded, his fears relieved.

"You're sure?" He nodded again. If she made his Daddy happy, he would deal with it. Then, Mokuba came up with a brilliant idea.

"How about we invite her here to spend the day with us?"

Seto blinked, and then grinned. "That's a wonderful idea. Are you sure you want to do that, though."

Mokuba nodded. "I'm sure."

Kaiba ruffled his hair affectionately and then got out his cell phone to give Kisara a call. She said she would be there in an hour after her meeting ended.

When she did arrive, she immediately got on board with their plan. She was introduced to Spike, and happily shook his claw. It seemed childish for Mokuba to still have a toy and be so attached to it, but she didn't mind. Watching the dynamic between them, Kisara could see the closeness that bordered on father and son. They loved each other deeply, that was clear. It wasn't hard for her to make herself fit into their dynamic. It was natural, although she felt unsure if they felt the same way. She tried to escape her uncertainty and get inside of their heads, but couldn't seem to. So eventually, she stopped trying to figure them out and just let things happen the way they were meant to. It was Mokuba whom she hoped to impress today. She knew that nothing more would happen between her and Seto without his say, so she desperately tried to win his approval. But the more she learned about him, the less she tried. He was a sweet boy who was easy to care about. By the day's end, she felt like they were friends, and Mokuba seemed to feel the same way. She wasn't surprised when they asked her to come over to their home for dinner, nor when he asked to say goodnight to his son when the hour grew late.

The only thing that did surprise her was when he opened what was supposedly Mokuba's bedroom, and saw a nursery instead.


	8. Passion

**Author's Note: WARNING: There is sex in this chapter. Reader discretion is advised. Enjoy!**

Kisara stared at the room around her. It was like stepping into another world, no doubt as intended. Instead of a young boy's room, it was a baby's room, complete with Mokuba laying in a crib, looking at her with the most innocent expression she had ever seen. The look in his eyes filled her with compassion, and she bade him goodnight before exiting the room as quietly as possible.

She leaned against the wall by the door, half expecting Seto to come out. When he didn't, she peered inside to see him holding Mokuba in his lap and reading him a story. The sight, though strange, warmed her from the inside out, and the childish behaviors Mokuba had exhibited were suddenly made acceptable. To her, this was validation. Seto was an amazing father to his son, proven by the lengths he had gone to to comfort him.

The feelings that sprang up inside of her were too powerful to ignore. She had to face the music: She was falling for him- fast.

It seemed like hours as she waited for him to come out of the bedroom, and when he did, he took her arm in his and led her to the kitchen, poured them both drinks, and then led her upstairs to a private balcony. A small table and two chairs was there, lit with candles and a little vase of roses. There was just enough space left for them to stand next to each other and stare out into the starry night.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kisara found the words pulled out of her somehow. They weren't angry, but they were enough to make Seto blink.

"I didn't have enough time." He said solemnly.

"The first time?"

He nodded. "I knew I would need more time to tell you about this than I had then... I didn't have the words to make you understand this..." He was quiet for a moment. "Are you angry with me?" The words weren't afraid, but they were said tensely.

"No." She said, but her voice was unsure. "Just disappointed I suppose."

"Why are you disappointed?" He set his drink on the table, looking at her seriously. She took a sip of her own drink before setting it down and staring at him intently.

"Because you didn't share this with me sooner."

Kaiba grasped for words. "What was I supposed to say? That I offered him the lifestyle choice to act this way and that he accepted?"

"Yes! Exactly!" She said, gesturing dramatically. "That's exactly what you should have said. That's all you needed to say! I just wanted you to be honest with me!"

"How could I tell you something like that?!" He exploded. "How could I tell you something I didn't even know know I wanted at first? How could I explain this in a way that would make you not run for the hills the second you found out?!"

The outburst stunned and shocked her into stillness and silence. For a moment she couldn't find her voice. "You thought I would leave?" She said in a low voice.

Kaiba was completely floored. He had revealed too much of his feelings in that burst of emotion. Now he was reeling, trying to find out how to take it back. "I..."

In that short syllable she knew that that was exactly what he thought. It underlined how alone he must have felt inside. Kisara closed the short distance between them and put a hand on his chest. He didn't back away, and she knew she had his full attention. His eyes were wide and uncharacteristically fearful. She could tell he wasn't used to the physical contact, and thought that perhaps the last time someone had gotten this close to him it had been to hit him. Instead, she was as gentle as possible.

"I wouldn't leave you." She whispered, looking into his eyes. She could see it in his gaze. He was trying to close himself off again, to keep from getting hurt.

"You can't promise something like that." He said bitterly.

"I can. I'll prove it to you." She said fervently. He wanted to believe her, but he knew better than that. He'd heard enough empty promises to last him a lifetime. She moved both hands to his face and caressed it in her hands. "I'm falling in love with you." She whispered.

At her words, Seto froze. No one had ever said anything close to those words to him before, and he had no idea how to react. Every muscle in him was taut, his posture rigid. Before he could react any further to her admission, her lips were crashing on his own.

Every time she kissed him, everything around him seemed to fade away. Everything that made him who he was- his love for his son, his pride in his company, his passion for dueling, and his self all drifted off into space. It was just the two of them. He felt his sense leave his body.

She'd kissed him before, but this time it was different. This time he felt desire unwind inside of him, overtaking his senses and his reason. For the first time, he wanted more. He pulled away just long enough to open the balcony doors, and led her into his bedroom. Before he could overthink things anymore, he started kissing her all over again. Kisara felt herself stripping him of his clothes, and him doing the same to her. She remembered her burns and the makeup covering them, but somehow she wasn't ashamed.

Their gentle kisses gradually deepened and became more harsh and erotic. Soon their tongues were exploring the new territory that was each other's mouths. As their kisses grew more passionate, their bodies responded in kind. For Kisara, it was a dream come true to have her breasts pressing against his pecs. Her hands roved over every inch of him, memorizing every contour of his body. Although it was fumbling and awkward at first, they both found their groove. His kisses moved from her lips and trailed down her neck to her breasts, his tongue occasionally caressing her nipples. The next thing they knew they were on the bed, and he was on top of her. When their lips parted and their eyes met, they were both connected to one another.

Finally, Seto slowly entered her, and suddenly conscious thought was lost for both of them. As he eased into her, she became awash with sensation. There was a slight pain as he slid inside her, but the other feelings were so overwhelming that her mind didn't register it. The sounds coming out of her were so foreign that she didn't realize they were her own. She was a little frightened at first, the strange feeling of needing to urinate appearing once he was inside of her. But she kept her mouth shut, not wanting to ruin something so beautiful.

Kisara kissed him, pressing her lips to his neck. "You make me feel so beautiful." She whispered.

"You don't need to feel beautiful to know that you are." He replied.

His words dazzled her, scrambling any wits she had left.

Suddenly, Kisara felt something building up inside of her. Her body was climbing toward something she couldn't yet see. The feeling was laying beneath the other sensations taking hold of her body. It was like someone shoving something under a rug- slowly lifting up the foundations of her feelings and building upon it until it broke free like a peak of a mountain. She moved her hips in time with his thrusts and felt the pulsating friction growing between her quivering legs, winding her body up to the breaking point. He cried out with joy, but kept going, waiting for her to experience the same joy.

Then, with a suddenness, her wound up body burst with heat, pleasure, and a tingling feeling that she couldn't quite explain. She cried out his name as sensation swept her away, leaving her weak and breathless with need. She laid her head on his unstable chest, silk sheets pooled around them. Never had everything been so perfect in her world. He had rocked her world, and she couldn't have asked for anything more. Leaning up to look at him, she saw him looking at her with the most beautiful expression she had ever seen. She kissed him gently.

"Oh Seto... Thank you." She sighed. Before she knew it, she had fallen into a deep sleep.


	9. Longest Night

Kaiba lay awake long after the woman in his arms had fallen asleep. His arms were still wrapped around her, holding her to his chest. He was, for lack of a better word, in shock. He couldn't believe what he had just done. He couldn't believe he let her get that close to him. He was shocked that he hadn't tried to stop her when she started undressing him. He was astounded that he hadn't thought of any consequences of his actions when he was making love to her.

How had he let it get this far? He wondered.

He had never let anyone come so close to him before. Well, anyone other than Mokuba, of course. But even he was kept at a distance for his own protection. Somehow this girl had gotten through all of the protection he put around his heart and had wormed her way inside, and it didn't seem like she was leaving anytime soon. Her words echoed in his head over and over again like a broken record.

"I'm falling in love with you."

He had never been in love before. Love had always required letting his guard down, and he had never been able to do that. For the sake of his company, he had to be a cold, calculating, ruthless leader. Men like him didn't have time for love.

Love was the stuff of fairytales, as real as a unicorn and just as elusive. Love was the thing people talked about but often never experienced. Love was for the hopeless who needed something to drive them. Love was for the naïve and the weak.

So why did it now seem to never leave him alone?

On his chest, Kisara turned her head toward him.

Unable to help himself, he ran his fingers through her silken hair. She looked so beautiful that it took his breath away, and he wondered what she was doing to him. She had turned his life upside down, just as the poets had predicted. But now that his life was in chaos because of her, how was he to proceed? He couldn't just go back to the way things were before. He had changed too much for that.

He stared at her for a long time. He memorized every contour of her face, wanting to hold onto this moment forever. Her words passed through his mind again, and with them, an old image flashed before his eyes.

The only example of love he had ever had had been from his own parents. He had been so young when they passed away, but he could still remember them a little if he really tried. He remembered his father giving his mother roses when he got home from work, and sometimes when their wedding song came on the radio, they would stop what they were doing and slow dance in each other's arms. He remembered how they made each other laugh, and how they stuck by each other no matter what.

His time with Gozaburo had rid him of almost all his feelings about his birth parents. Gozaburo was not a father in any sense of the word, but neither was his real father after his Mother passed away. Father had become an empty shell of a man after Mother died. He wondered morbidly if that was what would happen to him if Kisara somehow died. Would he become a hollow shell of his former self? He pushed the thought aside, disturbed by it. Where had that even come from? It could only mean what he already knew: somehow, she had gotten under his skin. Now the only question that remained was what was he going to do about it.

In his mind, there was only one thing to do.

Sleep evaded him that night, and he watched the sunrise over the city. It was only then that he was able to see the burns on her body. He stared at them, and realized that they were the remnants of the fire that had claimed her family. He resisted the urge to trail his lips over the burns, and wondered if they still hurt her. Some scars, he knew, never healed. A part of him wondered what she remembered of the fire, but he knew that he would have to wait for her to tell him before he found out. Some things were simply too private to share. That he understood, and he didn't want to pry.

A few hours went by in perfect silence, and Seto listened to the comforting sound of Kisara's breathing. She seemed to fit perfectly across his chest, as if his body was made for her. He never moved a muscle, afraid of waking her, but had to fight the occasional urge to get her off of her. When that happened, he focused on his own heartbeat until the urge went away.

It wasn't until around five in the morning that Kisara began to stir. She rolled into one side and opened her eyes to Seto's face. His eyes were staring at her with an expression she couldn't name. She smiled sleepily.

"Good morning." She murmured. She reached her hand up to run it down his velvety cheek. He didn't move, and she got the impression he hadn't done so in a while. There was something he was holding back, something he wasn't saying. Her gaze grew concerned. "What is it?" She looked at him, trying to find an answer in his expression, but his face was a mask that gave nothing away.

He stared at her for a long moment. Her eyes shined with concern, and it threw him off so much that he was sure his heart missed a beat or two. He gathered his courage and willed the words to pass from his lips.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

An instant of surprise passed through her expression, and he thought he'd blown it. Then, her gaze softened and she leaned her face up to kiss him tenderly.

"Yes."


	10. Validation

**Author's Note: Lyrics in this chapter are from Taylor Swift's "Never Grow Up". I do not own the song. But you guys already knew that. Enjoy the chapter!**

Kisara unwillingly climbed out of bed after a few minutes of cuddling.

"I have to get home... I need something clean to wear..." She murmured.

"Don't worry about that. I have it covered." She looked at him, confused. His expression wasn't sheepish or embarrassed at all when he said "I had Roland pick something up for you."

He threw off the warm covers and went over to the closet, where he pulled out a blue dress with a matching blazer wrapped in a plastic covering. She smiled.

"They're beautiful. Thank you." She said, smiling. He nodded, wrapping his arms around her waist. They stayed like that for a moment, unmoving. She enjoyed the embrace for a few seconds, and then went into the master bathroom to shower. Meanwhile, Seto pulled on a bathrobe and went to get his clothes out for the day. Then, he snuck into the nursery to check on his son, who was still sleeping peacefully. He went back to his room to work while Kisara was still in the shower. When she came out, wrapped in a towel, he resisted the urge to ravish her and got in the shower. He could hear her humming as she dressed, and the sound delighted him, although he never admitted it. When he was done and getting dressed, she was touching up her make up in the mirror. He watched her put concealer on her burns, slowly erasing them from her body, then putting on lipstick and some eyeshadow. It transformed her in a way that he couldn't explain. She looked beautiful. He finished dressing, put an arm around her, and kissed her neck just because he could. She smiled at him. Then, he took her by the hand and led her downstairs to eat breakfast while he woke his son up.

Mokuba came downstairs groggy, but smiled and managed to murmur a "Hi" before he started eating. The three of them ate in a comfortable silence. When Mokuba was done, Kaiba helped him get ready for school and sent him off in a limo before returning to Kisara, who looked anxious.

"What's wrong?" Asked Seto as he sat beside her. She stared at her food a moment or two before looking up at him.

"How are we going to do this?" She asked quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"Being a couple... Are we going public with it, or keeping it private?"

Kaiba didn't even have to think about that. "We have to keep this private. Aside from dating not being allowed in school, The Kaiba Corporation has a lot of enemies, and I don't want you to get hurt because of it."

She nodded, feeling a surge of disappointment at his words, but knowing that there was wisdom in them. He put his hand over her own, acknowledging her disappointment along with his own, before standing up.

"Come on. We should get to work."

He kissed her goodbye inside the door before leading her into one of several limousines and watching her being driven away. Then, feeling slightly saddened, got into his own limo and went to work.

In the weeks and months that followed after the two of them becoming a couple, some major adjustments were made for both parties. They certainly went out more, but had to be cautious. The paparazzi would have a field day if they knew they were seeing each other. So whenever they went out there were lots of car changes, wigs, and security involved. Kisara came to the Kaiba mansion more frequently than Kaiba did to her own manor, because she knew he still had to care for Mokuba. She stayed for dinner many nights, and the three of them formed a close bond as time went by.

It was approximately eight months after the two of them started dating that Mokuba caught the flu from someone at school. Kaiba had spent the past three days taking care of his son, and was more than willing to keep going, but there was a conflict at work. He had scheduled a hostile takeover For today, and with his Vice President out of commission he had no choice but to be there. So Kisara offered to watch Mokuba instead.

When he woke up, Mokuba was freezing and nearly delirious with fever. He tried to call out for his Daddy, but his throat felt like it was on fire, so all that came out was a strangled cry. Kisara sat beside his crib and hushed him. "Shhhh... It's okay. You're safe. You're fine." She soothed.

"D-D-Daddy..." He croaked.

"Daddy's at work right now, but I'm here. I'll take care of you." She replied. She pressed a cool rag to his sweaty forehead, wincing as he flinched away from it. She could hear him whimpering under his breath, and knew she had to do something to soothe him. She couldn't give him his pacifier for fear of blocking his airway should his nose get clogged, so she tried a different tactic. She snuck away for only a few moments to get a pillowcase from Seto's bedroom. Then she brought it into the nursery and handed it to him, in hopes that smelling his father's scent would calm him down. To her relief, it worked. She fed him bites of chicken soup as he cuddled up with his stuffed dragon and watched his favorite cartoons. She managed to keep him entertained enough that he only called out for his Daddy once, and that was when he was bent over the toilet bowl, violently ill. When his bout of nausea was over, Kisara couldn't help gathering him into her arms and taking him back to the nursery. She sat in the rocking chair, careful not to move it too much, with Mokuba in her lap.

"You should get some sleep." She said.

"'M not tired."

"How about if I sing to you? Would that help?"

Mokuba nodded, eyes wide. She cleared her throat, then began singing, not realizing she was being watched.

" _Your little hand's wrapped around my finger_

 _And it's so quiet in the world tonight..._ "

Mokuba's eyelids grew heavy as the song went on. Kisara was sure he was asleep by the end, so she gently placed him back in his crib, tucking him in, and giving him his favorite dragon, before standing up and smiling.

"Goodnight Mokuba."

The reply was so quiet she almost didn't catch it. "Night night, Mommy."

The biggest smile broke out on her face as she sat back down in the rocking chair.

Unbeknownst to her, Kaiba had been watching her outside the door since she had started singing. His meeting had ended early, and he had rushed right home, only to hear her singing to his child. He watched how tenderly she cared for him, and how comfortable he was with her. Seeing her tend to him and hearing him validate her by calling her Mommy brought a singular thought to his mind:

He was going to marry this woman someday.

Smiling a true, genuine smile, he walked into the nursery, kissed his son goodnight, pulled his woman into his arms and gave her the most passionate of kisses.

His world was perfect.


	11. Love

From the moment Seto decided he wanted to marry Kisara, everything in his world changed. Every day he found himself fantasizing of new ways to propose to her. He was more energetic at work, and his subordinates were taking notice. He softened slightly to his employees, yet still maintained his tough-as-nails attitude. Only those who worked near or in his home knew what the reason for these changes. His time with Kisara had made him a new man.

Likewise, the time with Seto had made her a new woman- but not necessarily a better one.

Finding Seto had turned her life upside down. For the first time in years she experienced real love. It had changed her Entire perspective on life. He had opened her eyes to what love and respect really meant. She grew to love Seto and Mokuba more than anyone in the world. However, finding them and loving them had brought something disturbing to her attention.

The more love and respect she experienced with the Kaibas, the more she found the respect and "love" of her so-called friends and employees vile. By meeting a man who treated her with real respect and care, she realized that the men she worked with didn't respect her at all. They only respected her title and status. The women weren't that much different.

The thought enraged her. The realization broke her.

This served to worsen her already severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The nightmares of her torment by her family which had only haunted her occasionally started making nightly appearances. The lack of sleep fueled her anger and made her paranoid. She found herself questioning the loyalty of her employees for the first time. Business men were some of the lowest scum in existence. So, when she was alone at home, she combed through the files of her employees, looking for their faults, flaws, and dirty laundry. She built herself files on each of her employees filled with blackmail. She hoped she wouldn't have to use it, but if one of them tried to usurp her position as head her company she would take them down with her. Her adoptive father had ruled by fear, and now she had unconsciously begun to do the same. If anyone had dared point it out to her, she would have fired them instantly. She had become as two-faced as a real life Jekyll and Hyde.

However, she was very careful to hide her Jekyll and Hyde personality from Seto. He didn't need to know about her work affairs aside from the products she was producing and the few contacts she'd given him to get what needed from them. She worried that if he found out he'd leave her. So she kept it under wraps as well as she could manage.

Despite the anger issues and paranoia festering below the surface, Kisara remained euphoric the vast majority of the time. She was in love with a wonderful man and was extremely close to his son to boot. There wasn't much more she could ask for.

Well, alright, there was _one_ thing. But it was something money couldn't buy.

Ever since Mokuba had called her "Mommy" in a fever-induced haze, she had longed for him to call her that again. The word was like a drug to her. One hit and she was hooked, itching for her next fix. However, she knew that if she pushed it, he would most likely rebuff her. So for the time being, she would have to wait. Soon though, soon she knew she would get her wish. She just had to keep being Mokuba's friend first, and then hopefully he would come to see her as a parent.

Today though, she was with Seto and Mokuba at the manor. She and Seto were sitting on the back porch swing, holding hands and watching Mokuba play with Spike. When she happened to look up, she saw Seto smiling at her. She mimicked his grin and looked at him curiously.

"What?" She asked, confused.

He just shook his head. "Nothing." He put an arm around her and pulled her closer.

"Tell me." She demanded. But he just smiled and shook his head again.

He pretended to turn his attention back to Mokuba, but he was still riveted on Kisara. Her ocean blue eyes and white hair with a subtly blue hue both shone in the natural sunlight. She still covered up her burns, but wasn't as shy as she once was about him seeing them. Her bright smile and warm heart thawed his icy personality and made him feel more alive than he'd ever felt. The sound of her voice was the most beautiful music he'd ever heard. He wanted to find the right words to express how he felt about her. Only three words came to mind, but he held back on speaking them. These words had been tucked away inside his heart for so long, and had only been told to his son. Now though, seeing the love she had demonstrated to both of them, he chose to finally set them free.

He looked down at her, then moved his arm from behind her to grip one of her hands. She looked up when he squeezed her hand gently. She could see the emotions waging war in his eyes, and it frightened her. She gripped his other hand, panicked.

"What is it?" She kept her tone low as to not upset Mokuba. He stared at her for a few moments, and it didn't take much for her to jump to the worst conclusion. But then, he finally opened his mouth to speak, and the words calmed her soul.

"I love you."

She'd been saying those words to him for a few months now, but he'd never been able to say them back to her. Though he never said anything, she suspected his tyrant stepfather Gozaburo had something to do with it. Something in his past had made him lock those words away deep inside. The fact that she had been the recipient of them meant more to her than she could ever say. So she smiled and leaned in to kiss him before whispering "I love you too" to his lips.


	12. Planning

From that moment on, Kaiba threw himself into planning the perfect proposal for Kisara. He wrote out dozens of ideas for how to pop the question and make it magical, but nothing seemed quite right. He combed through music he found on the Internet, searching for the right sound until- at last!- he found it. The song that would be the anthem of his proposal. He made note of the title and artist before moving on to the next phase of his plan. He met up with a private dance instructor. He was going to know how to ballroom dance so that he could sweep her off of her feet. When the lesson was over, he went to the jewelers to try and find the perfect ring for her.

He knew he was likely the youngest person to go shopping in the jewelry store, and he was made aware of that by the stares and whispers he got by total strangers. He was sixteen in an engagement ring store. He was bound to get negative reactions from other customers. However, the jewelers were thrilled. This was Seto Kaiba- the rich CEO of Kaiba Corp. He could drop a pretty penny here, unlike some of the other customers who only paid the minimum amount of money required. The jewelers were extremely attentive to him. He paid no attention to their forced compliments or greedy eyes. He only paid attention to the rings. There were several ones shining in the fluorescent light. The second he even looked interested in one, a jeweler handed it to him, spouting everything good about that ring. Yet, he wasn't satisfied. None of these rings said what he wanted them to say. He wanted something that really expressed how important she was to him. How beautiful and _rare_ she was... His eyes widened, and he was struck with an idea.

"Do you design custom rings?"

The jeweler's eyes grew wide, knowing how much more custom rings cost. "Yes sir, we do."

"I want a custom ring made." He said.

"Certainly sir." He handed him a form to fill out, with the kind of metal he wanted for the band, the band size and width, the color of the diamonds, and the shape of the stone. Then, he was asked to give sketches or pictures for "inspiration". Seto Kaiba didn't need inspiration. He knew exactly what he wanted this ring to look like. He sketched a crude drawing of his idea and handed it to the jeweler, who gave him a price estimate after he had an idea of what the ring would entail. The price was exorbitant; only the wealthiest of clients could afford something so extravagant. But Kaiba was willing to pay it for her. He picked the rush option on the form and they promised to have it in two weeks. That gave him fourteen days to perfectly plan his proposal. He had to get everything exactly right.

Now that the ring was done with, he felt he could breathe a little easier. But there was still plenty of work to do. He spent the next few hours picking out the venue, and setting up every last detail. Still though, he felt that something was missing, although he couldn't figure out what it was. He was going through his dueling deck when he figured out what it was. He had the card put in a scanner, edited the description, and then had Roland print it out as a real duel monsters card. Then, he informed Mokuba of the role he would play in all of it. He was so excited to hear what his Daddy was about to do. Seto was glad to have his son's stamp of approval on his actions.

The two weeks passed by quickly, and when Seto picked up the ring, he was pleased with the way it turned out. Now all that was left to do was to put it on her finger.

Finally, the day came.

Kisara was at home getting ready. Seto had promised to take her out for a special surprise today, and she could hardly contain her excitement. She got out of the shower and dried off, changing into the outfit she'd carefully selected for the day. She wore a halter dress with a suit jacket over it, hoping it said "professional" to the public and sexy to Seto. When she got dressed she went over to her vanity and began brushing her hair. When all of the snarls were combed out of her hair, she set down her brush and began the agonizing process of applying her make up. Covering her burns alone took twenty minutes. Despite most of them being under her clothes, she still covered them anyways. She never knew if something would happen and they would be uncovered. So she prepared for anything. After her burns were hidden, she began working on the rest of her face. She covered her zits, applied foundation, did her eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, and blush. She saved her lipstick for last. Choosing a bright red shade that made her skin seem fairer than normal and showed off her white teeth.

It wasn't until she was applying her lipstick closely in the mirror that she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye. She thought it was one of the maids coming to make her bed, but then she saw that the shoes weren't anything close to her maid's uniform.

They were men's shoes.

Kisara whipped around, knocking her red lipstick onto her white carpet.

"How did you get in here?!" She shrieked. She hopped up from her seat on her chair, instinctively trying to run for the door, but someone put a hand over her mouth, yanked her backward, and stabbed her in the neck with a needle, injecting her with something that knocked her unconscious.

Her body was dragged to one corner of the room, stuffed into a small abandoned dumbwaiter, and her assailant managed to sneak her out of her own home without a soul noticing. Then, he shoved her in the trunk and drove off with her.


	13. Motive

Kisara awoke with a fogged mind to a mostly dark warehouse that smelled of raw sewage. It took all the strength she had to lift her head and look around the room. What she could see of it was bare- stripped of anything but the floorboards. It was then she realized that she was chained to the wall. Her feet did not touch the ground; her ankles were shackled. She then took an inventory of himself. The once Pristine suit jacket she'd worn today was spotted and dirty. Her shoes had been taken- likely to keep her from escaping. She herself seemed fine, all for but a scraped leg. She shrugged it off. She'd learned to deal with pain much greater than this. She looked up at the chains holding her: they were built into the brick wall. She examined them curiously. They looked to be rusted. She smiled. Now there looked to be hope for her to get out.

All hope died when the double doors flew open, revealing a hunched over figure bathed in the golden rays of sunshine.

Her face instantly hardened. Any fear she felt was instantaneously hidden behind her mask of righteous fury. The doors shut, letting them close behind the person. Darkness enveloped the room once more, keeping the figure in the safety of the shadows. It wasn't until he was about ten feet from her that she could begin to distinguish features of him.

He was dressed in black, but it was a suit instead of a kidnapping ensemble. His honey blonde hair was coiffed to one side and had been slicked with pomade. His tie was clearly black silk, and his shoes were clearly designer. He looked as if he'd come to the Academy Awards rather than a kidnapping. For a fleeting moment she wondered if he was lost. But the malevolent glint in his blue eyes and the malice in his perfectly white smile told her he knew exactly where he was.

"Good evening, Miss Mishima." He said, cordially.

"Who are you, and why have you taken me?" She asked bluntly. He gave her an indulgent smile. For a second she thought there was something familiar about it. The idea tantalized her memory, but stayed just out of reach.

"Patience. We'll get to that soon enough." He promised. He kept his expression smooth. There was no anger in it, but she could tell he was restraining himself. He went over to a small bag in the shadows and pulled something she couldn't see into his hand.

"Why am I here?" She asked again with a sharper tone. Her patience was thinning rapidly.

He looked up, and for a moment he looked angry, but it was quickly smoothed over. He got up, looking at her as if she were a child throwing a tantrum, and he was the parent patiently waiting for her to finish her histrionics. She heard something click, and then suddenly there was a small flame lighting up the darkness.

The item in his hand was a lighter.

The effect on her was immediate. She gasped slightly under her breath and tried to back away from it, but she couldn't go anywhere. Her heart started racing in her chest, and she started struggling against her chains.

"This is why you're here." He said. But she couldn't make sense of the words.

"I don't understand..." Her PTSD was beginning to kick in, and her breathing was becoming shallow as the memories came in flashes. The hideous fire charring her alive...

He reached down into the bag again and pulled out a framed picture. He stared at it for a moment in reverence before turning it to her.

"You are here because of her!" His tone suddenly became angry as he shoved the photo into her vision.

The blonde smiling young woman in the picture looked familiar. But where had she seen her before? She racked her brain for a minute before the picture gave her a clue. The little white collar of what seemed to be a uniform had a blue "M" embroidered on one side, and that's when it clicked.

"She used to work for us as a maid." She gasped. The man smiled at her.

"Yes. She did." He deadpanned. "She worked there for eight years."

"Who is she?" She asked. His face contorted and gained a pinched look.

"Her name was Olga Chastain." He said. "She was my mother."

The similarities between the both of them were immediately apparent. She nodded.

"You look like her."

"I think you mean "looked"."

For a second she didn't understand until she made the connection. "Oh... I'm sorry." She didn't want to apologize to this man, but she didn't know what else to say. Loss was a terrible thing, and she knew how it ate you alive. There was a saying that death was the great leveler, and she knew it to be true.

"You should be..." He growled. His whole expression changed. The sad, pinched expression turned to one of complete and utter rage. His anger was so palpable that it frightened her. "You're the reason she's dead!"

The words sent a shockwave through her. She couldn't believe them. She tried to stutter out a response, but he beat her to the punch.

"My mother worked with your family for eight years. She couldn't afford to send me to school, so she took me to work with her most days and had me clean the places she couldn't reach. I spent most of my time cleaning the dumbwaiter."

"That's how you got to my room..." She whispered. He nodded.

"One day I wasn't feeling well so mother had me stay home. It wasn't too far from where she worked, so she wasn't worried. When I was feeling better I went to see if I could help her, and that's when I saw the fire. I ran through the crowd in the streets, calling and screaming for her, but she wasn't there. And that's when I heard her screaming. She was trapped in there. I tried to save her, but the police held me back. I lost my only family that day. It wasn't until recently that I found out who caused that fire, and I vowed to get my revenge. So get ready, Kisara Mishima, because you're about to go down in flames!"


	14. Search

Kaiba arrived at the Mishima Mansion early in the afternoon. The day was set to begin at one o'clock. It was twelve thirty right now. He was allowed past the security gate after identifying himself, and then got out after his limo pulled up to the front steps. He felt the weight of the little velvet box holding her engagement ring in his inner jacket pocket as it swung against and away from his chest as he walked to the door. The doorbell made a loud chime as he waited for someone to answer. A tired looking maid answered the door.

"I'm here for Kisara." He said. The maid nodded and let him in. She asked him to wait there while she got her boss. But when she got to Kisara's room, it was empty. She looked in the bathroom, but no one was there. There was no proof that anyone had been there.

Nothing but an open red lipstick lying on the white carpet.

The maid stood there for a moment, not quite comprehending what she was seeing. Miss Kisara demanded an orderly household at all times. There was no way she would have let red lipstick stain her white carpet. And if it had, she would have had Someone clean it up. It raised a red flag for her, but she calmly walked out of the room and searched other common places her boss tended to go to, but she was nowhere to be found. By the time the entire upstairs was searched, she was beginning to panic.

She hurried downstairs to call the rest of the staff together to begin a search of the property, completely ignoring Kaiba, who felt his stomach ball up with anxiety when he saw the faceless maid's panic-stricken expression. Disregarding everyone around him, he ran upstairs. He'd only been to her room once, but he remembered the path perfectly. He threw the doors open, calling for her. He ran from the bedroom to the master bathroom, but she wasn't there. He pauses when he got to her vanity.

The make up and hairbrush on the table were slightly askew, as if she'd been using them and was startled enough to bang against the table. It wasn't until he got there that he saw her lipstick on the floor. It was Revlon Fire And Ice- her signature shade. She never left home without it in her purse. And that was the moment when he knew for certain that something awful had happened to her. He didn't wait for her employees to finish searching. He called the police himself. Because of his notoriety, they arrived within minutes. The police force had just been handed a serious case. Normal procedure dictated they wait forty eight hours to see if the person was really missing, but because the victim was high profile the normal rules just didn't apply.

Even with the entire police force of Domino scanning the city, Seto Kaiba remained unsatisfied. He needed to be just as active in his search as the police so he pulled out his cellphone and hit speed dial. It was Roland who answered.

"Yes Sir?"

"Roland. Listen to me carefully. Kisara's missing."

There was a quiet intake of breath over the other line.

"I want every member of our security team out looking for her. I don't care what it's interrupting. I don't care if they have the day off. I want her found and I want her found now. If anyone refuses to help, they'll be fired on the spot. Am I being clear?"

"Crystal, Sir."

Seto hung up. Then, he turned to the front door, and saw the limo outside. He had only one thought.

Mokuba.

His son was waiting for him inside. What would he tell him? How could he explain this to him? What could he possibly say to make this better? Unconsciously, he started walking towards the door, racking his brain for the right words. Too quickly, he got to the door, and climbed in. His son sat there, smiling at him. But his smile quickly faded when he saw his Daddy's expression. He was quiet, afraid of his sudden mood change. Finally, he couldn't take the quiet and spoke up.

"Daddy, where's Kisara?"

Kaiba was quiet for a long moment before his hushed reply came out. "I don't know."

Mokuba cocked his head curiously. "Huh?"

"I don't know where she is." He said a little louder.

Mokuba's eyes widened. "So that's-"

"Yes. That's why the police are here."

Sensing his father's distress, Mokuba reached out to hold his hand. "We'll find her, Daddy."

Seto meant to smile at him. Maybe he even did. But the question still remained: How?

She didn't wear a duel disk, and her cell phone was still in her room. He had no plausible way to track her. So he would have to find another way.

The first thing he had to figure out was why someone would take her. There was only one real reason for that: Revenge. But who would want revenge on her? And why? Business Rivals was his first thought, but there weren't really any rival companies nearby. He should know- he checked. The only other answer that came up was the one he had tried to avoid: the fire.

They'd only spoken about it once in the entirety of their relationship. Kisara had spoken haltingly about that day. How she'd knocked over the candle, the fire trapping her in the room, the blistering burns, her jump out the window, hearing her family screaming. She hadn't mentioned any other victims besides her own family, and all her family's relatives were deceased. But maybe there was someone she didn't remember. He pulled his laptop out and pulled up a news article on the fire. There was one other victim: an Olga Chastain. He dove into her history, and found she had a next of kin- a son, named Daniel. He found Daniel's employment records and saw that he had been fired from his job a few weeks ago due to the factory he worked at closing down.

Seto barked the address at his driver, and then they were speeding through the city, on their way to save Kisara.


	15. Flames

**Author's Note: To Guest: It takes A LOT to piss me off, but congratulations, you have succeeded. I'm not pissed about you calling Kisara a Mary Sue. To be honest, you're probably right. And I've been trying to correct that because of your reviews. What pisses me off is that it's _all_ you talk about. Instead of finding a good aspect to also talk about, it's all _negative_. You don't bother to find anything positive in all of it. The one thing even remotely close was "the story is still compelling", and even that was negative and rude. So here is what I have to say to you: I love my fans. I read every single review they give me. I cherish every positive note they say. I try and improve from the negatives. But there is a difference between constructive criticism and straight up hate. So If you don't have anything nice to say, keep your opinions to yourself. If you can't help yourself, then stop reading. When you can be someone who can also lift people up instead of solely tearing them down, then feel free to come back here. And one more thing: Everyone is OOC in this if you haven't bothered to read the story that led to this point. Maybe next time you'll take a second look and not judge the cover of the book.**

Kisara stared at Daniel, who was pulling a can of gasoline from his bag. He was laughing, talking about how no one would miss her when she was gone. She didn't like being afraid, so she got angry instead. Her impatience at his antics was growing immensely, and she gritted her teeth as he laughed at her. By this point she was ready to kick him in the nads, and would have if she hadn't been chained to the wall.

Finally, her patience was used up. "If you're going to kill me, then just get it over with. I'm sick of listening to your bullshit."

"Watch your mouth!" He snapped. "Or I'll make you regret it."

She didn't want to admit that the threat scared her. He started pouring the gasoline on the ground, and the smell nauseated her so much that she almost threw up. But she kept her face angry. She couldn't afford to show weakness. It would be his ticket into her head and her emotions. The gasoline trail began at one end of the warehouse, and spread out throughout the rest of it, ending with a trail that led to just below her feet. He had done his best to block off every escape route, to make sure there was no way she would survive. When he was satisfied, he stood where the gas trail was to begin, and looked at her imperiously.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" He asked, holding up the lighter.

Kisara threw her chin up arrogantly. "I have something to say to you. I'm sorry about what happened to your mom. But you're the one who let it destroy you. I'm not responsible for your actions. We choose our own path in life. You could have chosen to help prevent other people from suffering the way you did. But instead you let your hatred define you... Just like I did. And because of that, I feel sorry for you."

"I don't need a murderer's pity!" He shouted, though her apology had genuinely surprised him.

He turned on the lighter. "Say goodbye!"

"Think again." It was a voice that clearly stated "final warning". Kisara felt her heart leap into her throat. Daniel turned around to a fist slamming into his jaw, knocking him to the ground. He looked up, dazed to see an irate Seto Kaiba staring back at him. "Get the hell away from her!" He demanded, despite the fact that he was several feet from her.

Daniel smiled as a little blood leaked from his mouth. "Or what?"

The fact that he dared to say that told Seto that this man clearly had a death wish. He grabbed him by the jacket. "Or you'll be dealing with me."

Daniel smiled at him, then dropped the lighter. "Oops." He said, clearly not sorry.

The fire hit the gasoline, and began to travel the path that Daniel had set. Seto heard Kisara scream as the fire charged toward her. He knew it was her worst nightmare come true, and he had to act fast if he wanted to save her.

Kisara watched the fire advancing toward her. Soon enough it would engulf her entirely. She couldn't help remembering the pain she'd felt as the flames charred her skin. It began with the flames, and it would end with them. Subconsciously she had always thought it would be how she died. She wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. There was nothing she could do. So she shut her eyes and prayed that her end would come quickly.

Seto knew his time was running out as the flames began to rise. He saw a rope on the ground, left by Daniel after having tied Kisara up. He grabbed it and slung it over his shoulder. He happened to look up at the ceiling and saw several cords hanging from the rafters. He knew it was his only chance to get to her. So he jumped up as high as he could, until his fingers barely grasped one of the cords. He climbed up it until he was safely off the ground and then started swinging back and forth as fast as possible.

In a moment of what he was sure was complete insanity, he let go and sailed through the air until he could reach the next cord. He swung from cord to cord four times. The flames were rising quickly, and he was running out of time. He climbed to the top of the cord and onto a beam. He jumped from one beam to another beam before he could jump down to get to her. He tied the rope to the beam and slid down to where Kisara was. Somehow the fire hadn't gotten to her yet, proof of Daniel's poor planning. But the smoke inhalation had gotten to her first, weakening her. She coughed, trying to get fresh air into her lungs, but there was none to be found. He landed in front of her and started to try and free her.

"Seto..." She said weakly. "Get out of here... Please... Save yourself..."

"I won't let you die here." He vowed. She smiled weakly at him before she blacked out completely.

Seto grabbed a rock that hadn't yet been claimed by the flames and started banging it against the chains that held her, trying to release them from the wall. As dumb as he found Daniel, the man was smart enough to hide the key. With a mighty yank, the chain that held her left arm came loose from the wall. He used the circular chain holder's flat tip to try and get the next one out. But the fire was to them, surrounding them. He got her next arm free, but he couldn't get to her feet without getting burned. He was about to to try anyways when he realized that the building was rapidly becoming unstable because of the flames. So he pulled as hard as he could and- at last!- freed her. He tossed her over his shoulder and started climbing the rope, narrowly escaping being burned himself as the flames burned up the rope. He jumped from beam to beam, but didn't rely on the cords anymore. They were too unreliable. He was almost free when the flames heightened and blocked his exit. The smoke inhalation was beginning to fog his mind, but he couldn't succumb to it, and fought on. Suddenly, water was blasting through the flames, giving him his escape. He jumped down and ran out into the fresh air.

He had survived the flames.

He laid Kisara down, and put an ear to her chest, expecting to hear the sound of her breathing.

Instead he heard silence.


	16. Lifeline

For a moment, Seto Kaiba was completely still. He felt as though he had left his body. It reminded him dimly of being in Noah's virtual world. The shock trapped his mind in a standstill. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He tried to comprehend what was happening, but it was like he couldn't make his brain connect the wires together. The world around him vanished as he stared down at the body of the woman he loved, who was now dead.

She was gone.

A second or two more passed, just enough time for the realization to hit him before he finally reacted.

Suddenly his hands were on her chest, compressing it over and over again, forcing her heart to beat once more, but it seemed like someone else was doing it. He was frantically working over her, unable to accept that she was gone. He was so focused on her that he didn't notice four familiar faces coming toward him.

Yugi and his friends had seen police cars speeding toward the warehouse as they were walking home from the pier. What had initially sparked their interest, however, was the limousine leading them there. They all thought that it was one of Kaiba's limos, so they'd followed the procession, only to see a building engulfed in flames. Fire trucks quickly gathered around, putting out the flames. And then they spotted him. Seto Kaiba running out of the building with a girl over one shoulder. So they'd come for a closer look. Now, they saw a frantic and panicky side of Seto Kaiba that they had never seen before. He did not look up or even acknowledge them. They assumed that it was because of his usual arrogance. They didn't know that he didn't notice they were there.

His attention was riveted on the girl on the ground.

"Come on, Kisara! Stay with me! Fight! Do you hear me?! You can't give up on me now! Keep your heart beating!" He shouted.

The four onlookers kept their silence, marveling at how machine-like Kaiba was. The motions were a reflex. He kept his emotions off of his face, but couldn't keep them from infiltrating his voice.

"Come on... Come on!" He urged, trying to get her heart started again.

It was then that the ambulance arrived. But Seto did not stop giving her CPR. The EMT's got out a defibrillator and started charging it. Seto didn't move his hands until he heard a small voice calling out. The only voice that could have reached him in that moment.

"Mommy?" It was a frightened squeak of a sob.

Seto's head snapped up as he saw Mokuba beginning to cry. But he didn't look like himself. His eyes were crazed. It took him a minute to regain his senses. When he did, he opened his arms and his son ran into them, sobbing. He picked him up and stood over Kisara's body as they put cardiac stimulant drugs into her system and continued where he left off. Then, when the defibrillator was charged, the EMT's backed away.

"Starting charge at 250 joules! Clear!" One shouted.

Seto winced as he saw her body jerk as the electricity jolt through her. He pulled his son to him, protectively. An EMT put an ear to her chest.

"No pulse. Charge to 300 joules!"

"Charging to three hundred joules! Clear!" They shouted. Kisara jerked again, and the EMT listened to her chest again.

"We've got a pulse!"

The relief that Seto felt was so great it almost knocked him off his feet. The EMT's loaded her into the ambulance. Seto ran after them.

"Where are you taking her?" He demanded.

"St. Vincent's Memorial Hospital." They responded before driving off. Seto looked on after they were gone, his face a mixture of longing and regret. A small voice brought him back to reality.

"Daddy?"

He looked down at the red-faced eyes of his child.

"Yes?" The word was shaky, not his usual sound at all.

"Is Mommy gonna die?"

Seto's eyes widened and he sucked in a quiet breath. Yugi and his friends didn't miss his skin paling a few shades in response. The truth is, he couldn't answer the question. He didn't know what the outcome would be. So instead he cuddled his son closer to him, more to comfort himself than his child. He wanted to say something- anything to bring Mokuba some comfort, but there was nothing he could say. If he couldn't even comfort himself, how could he comfort his son?

After a few moments of silence, Kaiba set Mokuba on his feet and instructed him to get in the car, and that he would be right there. Mokuba nodded, leaving Seto to his thoughts.

As he stared after the path the ambulance had taken, he found his hand resting on the outside of his inner jacket pocket, which still held Kisara's engagement ring. He pulled it out and flipped it open, his back turned to Yugi and his friends, sighing as he looked at the ring he had designed especially for her. This ring was the symbol that he was ready to commit his entire life to her happiness, and that the two of them would have a future together. And today that future was almost completely cut short. The idea of such a thing had almost unraveled him. But he couldn't afford to lose it now. His son needed someone strong to guide him, and Kisara would likely be fearful when she woke up, leaving him no room to break down. Staring at that ring strengthened his resolve. She would make it through this. And she would have him beside her every step of the way. They had to be together. There wasn't any other option for him. She had already gotten in under his skin. He had fallen in love with her, and there was no turning back from that. He took in a deep breath, then let it out as he centered himself. He closed the lid and put the little velvet box in his pocket before he got in the car to see her in the hospital.


	17. Breakdown

**Author's Note: I have no idea why Seto wrote himself this way but he did. So he's a little OOC at the end. Be prepared for some serious sad feels at the end. Just giving you all a fair warning. Enjoy the chapter and please review!**

The drive to the hospital was the longest ride of Seto's life. He spent much of it deep in thought, worrying over Kisara's future. When he wasn't brooding over her fate, he was trying to comfort Mokuba, who was frightened by seeing Kisara's body. Daddy hadn't said anything about it, but Mokuba knew her heart must have stopped or that she wasn't breathing because he had been performing CPR on her. There was no other reason to do it but for that. He had known that his Daddy had been scared by that, and that scared him even more. Daddy didn't get scared- not ever. And even if he did, he never showed it. He knew something was wrong with Kisara, so he clung to his father in a feeble attempt to comfort him.

Finally, the driver pulled up to the hospital, and he leapt out of the car, dragging Mokuba behind him. He was the first one to the Receptionist desk. The woman clearly recognized him, as a mixture of surprise and fear shot through her eyes, but she covered it up quickly.

"Hello, what can I do for you today?" She said with a sanguine smile that made him want to claw her eyes out.

"I'm here to see Kisara Mishima. She was brought here by ambulance a few minutes ago."

"Okay. Hold on, let me check." She punched in a few keys and looked up at him. "Are you family?"

"She doesn't have any family left. I'm her emergency contact." It was true. They'd worked that out when they'd started dating. But the _real_ reason he said that was that it was easier to say than boyfriend. Plus the hospital might let him in that way.

She nodded. "She's on the third floor, room 416."

He nodded curtly, then led Mokuba to the elevator.

The ride up seemed like an eternity, but the walk to her room was mercifully short. Seto went in and froze when he saw her sleeping form.

Her white-blue hair was splayed across the pillowcase. Her body was covered up, but her arms were exposed, and he could see her burns plainly. He morbidly wondered if any had been added during their last escapade. There was an oxygen tube in her nose, and it reminded him of desperately trying to get her to breathe. She was so still that it frightened him a little. He'd never seen her so motionless. Not even in sleep. The only other time was when he had been doing CPR on her, but he couldn't even count that because he was making her body move with his hands. To see what she would have looked like had he not gotten there in time was chilling.

He sat in the uncomfortable plastic hard-backed chair, staring at her for a long time. Then, carefully, cautiously, he reached out to hold her hand, being as gentle as he could be. She looked to be made of porcelain to him, so fragile and breakable that he feared that one wrong move would shatter her into a million pieces. He was so focused on her that he didn't notice Mokuba climb into the chair next to him, or the doctor coming in minutes later. He cleared his throat, and Seto's blue eyes flashed to him.

"Mr. Kaiba?"

"Yes?"

"My name is Doctor Fukushima, and I'm in charge of Miss Mishima's care."

The polite thing would have been to go and shake his hand. But Seto couldn't bring himself to take his eyes off of her. "And?" It was all he could say. Unbeknownst to him, Yugi and his friends were outside the door, listening. They'd followed Kaiba by taxi and had kept enough distance to go unnoticed, but could still hear all the pertinent information, including the mysterious girl's room number. Now, they all crowded together by the door, listening to the doctor's report.

"She suffered severe smoke inhalation. It made her lose consciousness. I understand she was in a fire. This is quite common in such situations. She has burns all over her body, but not from today-"

"It was from a house fire. She was eleven." He interrupted. The doctor nodded. It had been in her medical records.

"We've put her on oxygen. This is standard treatment for smoke inhalation. If her condition deteriorates then we will put an oxygen mask on her instead of a tube."

He nodded. "And her- her heart? Why did it stop?" His voice wavered on the word "stop", and he chided himself for sounding so weak.

"We found a small circular burn mark on her. We think she was electrocuted."

"By what?" He asked, bewildered.

"We think it was something small, like a cord or a charger, or-"

"Or a wire?" He finished quietly.

"Yes. Did you encounter one?"

"When I was getting her out of the building there were exposed wires suspended from the ceiling, but the power of the building was shut down. I don't understand how it could have hurt her..."

"We had a massive power surge about an hour ago. The wire could have gone live. I doubt you would have noticed it in the middle of a fire."

Seto nodded, but felt guilt wash over him. "Will she be okay?"

"Time will tell." The doctor answered. Seto nodded woodenly as the doctor excused himself to check on other patients.

There were very few times that Seto Kaiba felt guilty, and even fewer times when it made him break down. When such things happened, he made sure Mokuba never saw it. He couldn't bear to let him see him like that. So he composed himself as much as he could before turning to him.

"Why don't you have the driver take you home so you can eat something and get your books so that you can do your homework here?"

Mokuba looked suspiciously at him, and for a moment he thought he had failed in his attempt to get solitude, but Mokuba nodded, gave him a tight hug, and then went to leave. Yugi and his friends hid behind the wall, keeping close until Mokuba was outside.

Kaiba waited until he was certain his son was gone, and then his shoulders slumped with the weight of his grief. As a business man, he was used to destroying lives every day. He'd fired people, dissolved business partnerships, and knowingly left parents of children jobless, all without losing a wink of sleep. But this was different. To know that he had almost killed the love of his life because of a mistake he made was a devastating blow that was crushing him inside. He looked up at her, eyes shining with tears that threatened to fall.

"I'm sorry." He rasped. Those words, dubbed a sign of weakness by Gozaburo Kaiba, had been hoarded inside of his heart for years, never meant to see the light of day again. Now, he set them free, and there was a powerful release that came with that. Now that the words were spoken, it was like the emotions he'd spent years bottling up were spewing out full force. "I'm so sorry I let this happen to you. I miss you so much. I'd give anything to get you back where you belong. Please come back to me... I need you. You're the only one who ever looked at me and didn't see a tyrant. You gave me a chance I didn't deserve. You made me human. But now that you're gone I'm just a monster. I can't do this without you. Now that you've come into my life there's no going back to the way it was before. I'm a changed man because of you. Just open your eyes and give me the chance to prove it. I miss you... I love you..."

He couldn't say anymore. He clamped a hand over his mouth to keep from making a noise as the tears finally flowed down his face.


	18. Two-Faced

Yugi and his friends had overheard Kaiba's speech, and were shocked at how much emotion he had expressed, and more so, how sincere the words seemed to be. Yugi had the urge to go and comfort Kaiba, but he knew that it would be the worst thing to do. Although he considered Kaiba a friend, he knew that Kaiba did not feel the same. It would be the surest way to put distance between them. He could see in the door just enough to see Kaiba's shoulders moving. It took him a minute to realize that he was sobbing. The sight pulled at his heartstrings, but he remained in place. His friends had noticed too, eyes wide with surprise. No one had said anything. No one dared to.

Seto stayed that way for a few minutes, letting his emotions get the best of him for the first time in years. He hadn't cried like that since his birth father had died. His eyes felt stiff, and he felt hot in the room. He got up from his chair and moved to the en suite bathroom, not realizing that he was being followed, just close enough to hear what he was saying.

Seto splashed cold water on his face, then looked up at the mirror, both hands clutching the sides of the sink for support. His whole body felt trembly and weak, and he struggled to keep himself upright. He studied his face in the mirror for the first time in a long time.

His first thought when looking at himself was that this was the face of a beaten man. There was a tiredness in his eyes that made him look three times as old as he was. There was a weariness that hadn't been there before, a look that said he'd given up on everything, and it frightened him. His mouth was downturned as it often was, but this time it wasn't because he was scowling. It was because he'd been crying.

"Emotions are a sign of weakness, Seto!"

Seto's eyes widened. Those words- Gozaburo's words- echoed in his head for the first time in years. For a fleeting second it was Gozaburo's laughing face in the mirror instead of his own. He touched his cheek experimentally, and the person in the mirror copied him.

"Who are you?" He wondered aloud.

It was as though there were two people in the mirror. The person he'd become since becoming a father and a lover, and the cold, ruthless, calculating man he'd once been. Both were there, fighting for control of his body. More often than not, the business man won. And, if he were being honest with himself, it frightened him.

"I hate you." The words were snarled with disgust and contempt.

The business man was modeled after his stepfather. He was the last remainder of Gozaburo left on the face of the earth. The father and lover part of him were the last bit of the child Seto had been. The one who had loved his little brother deeply and had known the love of real parents. He didn't want to be the business man anymore. Not to his family.

Seeing this dichotomy disturbed him greatly. Suddenly, both faces started switching back and forth, faster and faster until he was reeling from the shock. He was filled with anger, and before he even realized what he was doing, he slammed his fist into the mirror, shattering it. His breathing was heavy as he tried to calm himself down. He didn't notice that his hand was bleeding, or that he had almost dropped to his knees from lack of strength. But when he looked up, there were dozens of images of him in the mirror. His eyes scanned over all of them, but the image of Gozaburo that he'd seen was gone, and he sighed in relief.

It was then that he noticed his hand bleeding. He ran it under the sink water until the bleeding slowed, and then wrapped it in a paper towel and put pressure on it to help the bleeding stop completely. When he felt himself gain control of his emotions, he went back out to Kisara, who was still unconscious. He did not know that Yugi and his friends had made a hasty exit moments before he had come out. Seto went to her bedside and kissed her forehead, before he stroked her hair.

"Hey there, beautiful." He said. "Sorry for leaving. I had something to take care of first." Feeling oddly satisfied with himself, he sat back in his chair and started talking to her. He figured it couldn't hurt. He spoke to her for a while, until Mokuba came sprinting through the door. He opened his arms automatically and his son leapt into them. Mokuba filled the room with his chatty volubility, and it gave Seto a deep sense of relief. Having his son close by buoyed him. Although Mokuba had frowned at the paper towel wrapped around his Daddy's hand, he didn't comment on it. For a while, that's all there was. Talking and quiet praying.

Suddenly, Seto felt a sudden fluttering against his hand. His body straightened instantly, and Mokuba's talking ceased.

"Kisara?" He asked, hope shining through in his voice. Slowly, her eyes opened, and the relief that cracked open inside of him was dizzying. He felt happy tears coming down his face. She looked over at him. At first she didn't recognize him. But then it hit her, and a huge smile crossed her face.

"Seto... You stayed." Her voice was soft and hoarse, but it was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard.

"Of course I did. You needed me." He replied. She reached up to trail her hand gently down his cheek.

Her smile dazzled him as she lightly squeezed his hand.

"I love you." She said. He grinned.

"As I love you."

He leaned over her and planted his lips on hers in a passionate kiss.


	19. Questons

When their lips parted, Mokuba climbed onto the bed and gave Kisara a big hug. She laughed, and the pealing bell sound reassured Kaiba that she was really awake. A smile crossed his face, and Mokuba gave him the happiest grin. Seeing his Daddy smile was a gift that he hadn't been able to appreciate enough. He snuggled into Kisara's side happily.

"I missed you, Momma."

Kisara felt a lump grow in her throat. He'd only called her that once, and that was during a fever. This time he knew exactly what he was saying, and it made her heart glow with pride. She wrapped her arms around him and said,

"I missed you too, sweetheart."

Seto could have proposed right then and there because the moment was so perfect, but he held himself back. He hadn't gone through all of that planning for nothing. He would just have to be patient. For now he would simply enjoy his time with his family.

The doctor came in and checked Kisara's vitals before declaring that she would have to stay overnight for observation before she could go home. When the doctor left, she turned her attention to Seto.

"Can you tell me what happened after I passed out?" She asked.

Seto's face paled, but he couldn't deny her the truth. It could help her heal. He spoke haltingly about what had happened after she went unconscious.

"I had tied a rope to one of the beams before I went to get you. I used a rock to get your chains out from the wall. I climbed up the rope and ran across the beams to the front door. I got lucky that the firefighters cleared some of the fire away so that I could get you out of there. When I went to check your breathing..." His eyes glazed over as he got lost in the memory. "Your heart wasn't beating..." He whispered the horrible words.

Kisara's eyes were wide, but she nodded at him to continue.

"You had been electrocuted. I didn't know that at the time, though. I did CPR on you until the ambulance came. They had to inject you with certain drugs and use a defibrillator to get your heart started again..." He was quiet for a moment, before adding, "they loaded you into the ambulance and took you here."

She reached out for his hand. "You were so brave."

The words made him flinch. He was brave. He was a monster. She frowned at the action, and knew there was something more going on here.

"What is it?" She asked, staring at him.

"There were wires hanging from the ceiling." He began. "There was a power surge when I was getting you out. It was my fault that you got electrocuted... That your heart stopped..."

"Don't." She said sharply. He looked up at her, confused. "You can't blame yourself for that. You saved my life. A power surge electrocuted me. Not you."

"But if I had found another way-"

"If you had tried to find another way we both might not be here right now." She said quietly, as to not frighten Mokuba. "You did the right thing, honey." She could see he didn't believe her, so she changed the subject. Mokuba's eyes were beginning to close.

"Maybe you should take him home." She offered. "He needs some rest."

Mokuba cuddled closer to her. "No. I'm not leaving." He murmured, pouting. Seto could see exactly what his son was thinking, so he kneeled down next to him and got him to look at him.

"Buddy, Momma isn't going anywhere tonight. She'll be here when you wake up tomorrow. I promise."

Mokuba's eyes were wide but he nodded, and ended up falling asleep before he could do anything more. Kisara waited until she was sure he was deeply asleep before speaking again.

"Seto?" He looked up at her. "I had something I wanted to discuss with you about Mokuba."

Seto felt his anxiety skyrocket, but he kept a straight face. "What is it?"

"I wasn't sure how to bring it up, but after the fire, I realized I didn't want to leave anything left unsaid. Near death experiences tend to bring everything into perspective that way. For the past few months I've fallen in love with you. But it isn't just you that I loved. I've loved Mokuba too. As if he were my own child. And now, to hear him call me "Momma"... I realize how much I care about him. So I was wondering if... If you would give me your blessing and let me adopt Mokuba as my own."

Her eyes were wide with fear as she said the words. While she knew Seto loved her, the love and bond he had for his child was a completely different story. From the very start of their relationship she could see that the two of them had a very special and unique bond. She hadn't been able to place it until she'd seen the nursery for the first time. The bond of father and son had absolutely blown her away. The love and compassion she'd seen in him was so different from the Seto Kaiba shown in the media, but she could see that this was his real side, and that the one she'd been shown was just a front. She knew how close they were, and knew that if she had ever done anything to upset his child, their relationship would have been done in an instant.

Seto stared at her, not quite comprehending her words. She wanted to adopt him? His mind flashed back to when Charlotte called him months ago to tell him that he had forgotten their real parents. It had led him to discover that Mokuba had developed false memory disorder. Charlotte had later confided in him that Mokuba had asked what it was like to have a Mommy. Now, it occurred to him that he had one. He thought of the velvet box in his pocket. He was going to marry her anyways, and this was more than enough confirmation of how much she loved him. With a smile on his face, he answered her,

"Yes. You can adopt my son."


	20. Proposal

**Author's Note: Song in this chapter is supposed to be from "Will You Marry Me" by John Berry. Enjoy the feels, and grab a tissue! This chapter is a tearjerker! Enjoy!**

Kisara stayed in the hospital for one day before she was released. Seto refused to let her go back to her home after what had happened, so he insisted she stay at the Kaiba manor. This made it slightly harder for Seto to redo his proposal, but being who he was, he was not deterred. The set up took another two weeks, giving Kisara plenty of time to regain her strength and settle slowly back into her life.

In the two weeks since their visit to the hospital, Yugi, Tristan, Joey, and Téa found themselves at a bit of an impasse. The side of Seto Kaiba they had seen had blown them away. It made them wonder if they really knew him at all. Joey, Tristan and Téa were stunned, but Yugi was not, and neither was Atem for that matter. They had both held out hope for Kaiba long after their friends had given up on him. They had seen his deep love for his son. It made him believe that there was good in him, despite how he tried to hide it behind his emotionless façade. This was the undeniable proof he'd been waiting for.

For Yugi, it was a confirmation of what he had already known. For everyone else, it had been a curve ball. Particularly for Joey, who tended to see nothing but the wicked in Seto Kaiba. It had baffled him so much that he had spent three hours gorging himself on food as he tried to sort things out. The four of them had corralled together for a long while, each dealing with their feelings on the subject. They spoke about it, wondering what to do with this new information, but decided to keep silent. Dating wasn't permitted at their school in any event, and while many of them disliked Kaiba, getting him expelled seemed a bit extreme, so they kept quiet, going on with their lives as usual.

Meanwhile, Seto Kaiba was preparing for the biggest day of his life. Thirteen days of preparation had led up to this moment, and he was going to savor it for all it was worth. Dressing in a White sport coat, blue dress shirt, white slacks, matching shoes, and a silver tie, he looked sophisticated and professional. He took the little black box from the top of his dresser and stared at it. This was it. He took a deep breath and slipped it into his Jacket's inner pocket before getting his son, handing him a card, and getting in their limousine to pick up Kisara.

Kisara was waiting for them outside of the manor. Seto's jaw dropped when he saw what she was wearing. It was a light blue, V-Necked, spaghetti strap gown with sequins near the hem and along the neckline that brushed against the concrete steps. She carried a clutch purse in her hand that was completely covered in silver sequins, and wore a pair of shiny silver T-Strap stilettos on her feet, although they were mostly covered by her dress. Her white hair was half up and half down, and she wore the diamond necklace, earrings, and bracelet she'd been wearing when they'd met. He had never seen her look so beautiful. He opened the door to the limo for her and ushered her inside before getting in himself, and having the driver take them to their destination.

Kisara could hardly contain her excitement. Seto had told her to dress nicely for the occasion, and she couldn't wait to see what he was planning. The drive wasn't that long, and they soon pulled up to their destination. She got out of the car to see that they were at Kaibaland. A surge of disappointment flashed through her; She had been expecting something a little fancier. Then, she took a look around the park.

"There aren't any patrons." She said, looking up at him. He nodded.

"The park is ours for the day." He reached out to hold her hand, and she took it.

"Let's enjoy the day, then." She said.

The three of them spent the day enjoying everything the park had to offer. Restaurants, rides, and occasionally a treat or two. They had done most of the attractions, and gathered in the restaurant near sun down for dinner. Each of them was served their favorite dish, and drinks. By the time dinner was over, it was getting dark. Kaiba led Kisara toward the front square of the park. It was one of the few places with grass in the park, and the flowers were in bloom. All of the lights in the park turned on, illuminating the beautiful setting.

Yugi and his friends were walking home when they saw the fireworks coming from the theme park.

"Isn't Kaibaland closed for today?" Asked Téa.

"Sure is." Said Yugi.

"Well it looks like something's going on in there. I say we check it out! Who's with me?" Asked Joey.

"I'm in!" Said Tristan.

"Alright." Replied Téa.

"Me too." Added Yugi.

They ran to the gate to see Kaiba, Kisara and Mokuba watching the fireworks inside.

"That jerk! He has a private party here and doesn't invite us?! Joey fumed. The three of them shushed him and kept watching.

Meanwhile, Seto paused in his steps and asked her to wait. Then, in a streak of light, fireworks began to go off. The lights in the sky mesmerized her so much that she almost didn't notice music beginning to play. She listened to the lyrics.

Mokuba, who was standing on her left, tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to face him, and he handed her what seemed to be a duel monster's card. It was a Blue Eyes White Dragon. But there was something in the description that wasn't normal. The music continued on.

She took in a sharp breath as she read the description. It read: _Will you marry my Daddy?_

Kisara turned around and put a hand over her mouth when she saw Seto kneeling on one knee before her, holding her left hand. He pulled out a little velvet box from his jacket. The music faded into the background as he opened up the box. She gasped as she caught sight of the ring. A huge blue diamond was in the middle of an intricately crafted silver band that was designed to look like two blue eyes white dragon. There were two tiny black diamonds on both sides meant to be the dragon's eyes, and the bottom of the ring was the tails of both blue eyes twined together. The diamond was meant to look like an attack from both blue eyes' mouths combined together. It was stunning. Seto's voice pulled her from her thoughts on the ring and her complete disbelief at what was happening as he spoke, voice full of fervor.

"Kisara, from the moment I met you you turned my life upside down. I didn't think I was capable of loving someone else other than my son, and then you came into my life. From the moment I first saw you you captured my attention like no one else. Your beauty has taken my breath away, and your smarts have put my own intelligence to the test. Your kindness and tender heart have softened a bitter man and made him human. You took a man who didn't realize he was broken and made him whole. Money can buy a lot of things, but the love of someone like you isn't one of them. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to get older and face the world with you by my side. I promise to love you and cherish you for the rest of our lives. I will put your needs above my own. I will devote my every waking moment to your happiness. I will become whatever you need. I'll be your friend, your lover, your counselor, your partner. I just want you to be my wife. Kisara Asami Mishima, Will you marry me?"

Kisara was crying by the end of the speech. His words, so honest and sincere, resonated with her throughout every part of her being. She was so happy that for a moment she couldn't speak. Then, in a tremulous falsetto, she willed her lips to move.

"Yes!"


	21. Aftermath

For the briefest of moments, Seto Kaiba processed the word she said. Then, the biggest grin threatened to split his face in two. He slid the ring onto her finger and then twirled her in a circle before pulling her into a passionate kiss while fireworks crackled and blazed behind them. Mokuba's arms were around both of their middles, and, as one, they picked him up and held onto each other as a family for a long while. The music came on again, and Seto set his son down to dance with his future wife.

This was a moment none of them would never forget.

Meanwhile, those who were spectators of the tender moment were slack jawed with awe. The rudest, most unpleasant, egocentric person they knew was getting married. They could not believe what they were seeing. Joey ended up running down the sidewalk because he knew he wouldn't be able to control his volume when this hit, and he didn't want to give his friends away. Yugi followed, accompanied by Tristan and Téa. They somehow made it all the way to the Kame Game Shop without losing control of themselves. They quietly bade Solomon Moto a good evening, and then walked up to Yugi's room, closing the door behind him.

That's when Joey lost it.

"WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH THE WORLD?! HAVE I GONE NUTS OR SOMETHIN'?!" Joey exclaimed, flinging his arms out in exasperation as he flopped back onto Yugi's bed.

"No more than usual." Tristan commented. Joey kicked him in the thigh, earning a muffled "ow" from his friend.

"I hate to side with Joey, but this is a little crazy... Even for us." Said Téa.

"I was surprised too. But maybe this is a good thing." Yugi added.

"How is that a good thing, Yug?" Asked Joey.

"Have you ever seen Kaiba that happy?"

"I've never seen him happy at all, which is the whole point! This is freakin' me out!" Joey exclaimed.

"But it's not about you, Joey." Téa interjected. "That's the whole point. We saw because we were snooping. We can't tell anyone. Kaiba would be in major trouble if we did." Joey leapt up from his spot on the bed.

"Then what are we waitin' for?! I've been wanting to take rich boy down a peg for years!"

"We can't do that, Joey!" Said Yugi. Joey's excited face fell.

"And why not?" He asked hostilely.

"Because he's our friend."

"Come on Yug, wake up and smell the coffee. Kaiba has never been our friend."

"But that's exactly why we should be friends to him first."

A beat of silence passed before Tristan spoke up. "He has a point."

Joey groaned. "Fine. But if he crosses me he'll be using his money to pay for a new set of teeth!"

Yugi smiled brightly at his friend, and Joey managed to smile back.

Across town, Seto and Kisara were locked in each other's arms, grinning at one another.

"I love you." She said, smiling. He grinned.

"I love you too. That's why we're here."

"I can't believe that we're engaged..." She said in a feathery sigh.

"Me too. You're not having second thoughts, are you?" He asked, trying to hide the fear in his voice as his smile faded. She stroked his cheek gently.

"Never. This is a dream come true. I wouldn't trade this moment for anything in the world." She promised. His smile returned and he kissed her.

"When would you like to get married?" He asked. The words sounded odd to him, but that meant little to him. His attention was fixated on his future wife.

"As soon as we can." She said. "I don't want to be apart from you any longer."

"We could elope if you prefer."

She considered that for half a second. "I want to have a wedding. I want to wear the dress and walk down the aisle. But I don't want to do it in a communal place."

"We could do it in the backyard of the manor." He suggested.

She nodded. It was a good idea. "That way it won't be public."

"Speaking of the public, what are we going to tell them? We can't keep this a secret forever. Sooner or later someone will find out and it will get out there."

"We tell them. There's no other option." She said. Seto looked away from her, remembering Mokuba's several kidnappings. Kisara reached up and pushed his face toward hers so she could look into his eyes. "What is it?" She asked softly.

"I could put you in danger..." He murmured. His corporation had more enemies than he could count. He had a huge target on his back for being who he was already. He couldn't endanger her too.

"I can handle myself." She said. But he was thinking of how she'd been chained to the wall before.

"I know." He said a bit too quickly. "I'm just worried."

"So am I." She sighed. "But we'll make it work."

He forced a smile, but it wasn't the real thing and they both knew it. Still, the shadow of fear did not strip the joy from the moment. They were alive, in love, and together. What more could they ask for?

A half hour passed by before they decided to start heading home. Mokuba had fallen asleep in the limo, exhausted from all of the excitement. When they pulled up to the Kaiba manor, Seto carried him to the nursery, Kisara at his side. He changed him into his favorite pajamas, before placing him in his crib. They each gave him a goodnight kiss before flicking off the light and shutting the door behind them. Their eyes met as they stood outside the door. The hallway was empty, devoid of employees. An electricity was building between them, filling the air with it's promise. Their eyes only locked for two seconds before they started kissing, pressing themselves against one another as hard as possible. They barely made it to the master suite before they began stripping one another of their clothing. The night ended with a passionate session of love making, before they fell asleep in each other's arms.


	22. Wedding

The next few months passed by in a flurry of activity that neither Kaiba nor Kisara could comprehend. They wanted to keep their engagement as short as possible so that the tabloids couldn't catch wind of it and out their relationship before they were ready to announce it themselves. It was going to be a small, intimate ceremony with only family and close friends. Kisara had no biological family left, but over time she had become close with Kaiba's friend Charlotte, and asked her to be her maid of honor. Seto, of course, asked Mokuba to be his best man, and Charlotte's own son Kobe would serve as a ring bearer.

Seto slowly watched as his backyard was transformed from a green yard that wasn't used much to something right out of a fairytale. There were cherry blossom trees lined up on sides of the aisle. There were two wooden benches for seating, an aisle runner that had a collage of pictures of the two of them as a couple, from the beginning of their relationship all the way to their engagement. The altar itself was a small white gazebo covered in lights and flowers, with three steps leading to the altar. It was intricately crafted down to the last detail, with small additions that wouldn't be noticed by anyone but them.

Today was the day that all their planning would come to fruition. It was their wedding day.

They'd hired a minister during the months, and he arrived promptly at eleven thirty. Seto was standing at the altar, face expressionless as he waited for the biggest day of his life to begin. A musician was playing the piano in the distance, and he felt a flash of irritation as the music droned on.

Kisara stood in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection. For years on end she'd fought a losing battle with her self-image. Her rape at the hands of her adoptive father had made her believe that she was ugly. Her adoptive mother's insults added to it, and the burns she had received as a result of the fire further solidified this belief. She had never felt beautiful in her life. But today, that all changed. Today, she knew she was gorgeous.

Her burns covered up expertly by the best make up artists in the world, she could pretend for a moment that she was completely normal. Her skin was cream colored, and her face was just as smooth and delicate looking. Her cheeks were flushed with light pink blush, and her lips had the faintest shade of color and were shiny from the gloss. Her lashes were dark and thick, and her eyeshadow brought out the natural blue in her eyes. But still, that was nothing compared to her dress. The gown was strapless, with beading and sequins that shimmered in the light all around the bodice. It flared out at the waist into a ball gown, made from a crinoline, taffeta silk, and an outer layer of chiffon. Sequins lined the hem, giving the dress a subtle sparkle at the bottom. The garner under her dress was blue, her shoes were an old pair of heels from her closet that she'd saved specifically for this day, and she had borrowed Charlotte's hair pin to wear in her white hair. Her veil was finally thrown over her face, and she grabbed her bouquet of Roses, Orange Blossoms, and lilies.

She was ready.

Suddenly, the music started, as did the March down the aisle. Kisara's eyes met Seto's the instant they were in sight of each other. Seto felt his breath get knocked out of his lungs as he saw her.

She was so _beautiful_.

He felt the world evaporate from underneath him as time came to a discordant halt. There was only her and her eternal beauty, standing beside him forever. Suddenly, she was beside him. It wasn't until she reached him that he realized he was almost crying. The world flooded back as the priest began the ceremony. Seto was almost unaware of what was going on as he lost himself in Kisara's beauty. It was at this moment in his life that he became fully aware of why He had suffered as much as he had in his life. It was to lead him to her.

He took her hands in his, and felt a jolt of electricity race through him. She was here, and he was finally home.

He barely heard the priest begin as he looked into her eyes.

"We are gathered here today to celebrate one of life's greatest moments, the joining of two hearts and to give recognition to the worth and beauty of love, and to add our best wishes to the words which shall unite this couple in marriage.

Today we have come together to witness the joining of these two lives. For them, out of the routine of ordinary life, the extraordinary has happened. They met each other, fell in love and are finalizing it with their wedding. A good marriage must be created. It is never being too old to hold hands. It's remembering to say I love you every day and it is not just marrying the right person- its being the right partner."

The priest looked at him. "Seto, please repeat after me." And he did.

"I, Seto Matsuko Kaiba take you, Kisara Asami Mishima to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward as long as we both shall live."

"Kisara, please repeat after me." She did.

"I, Kisara Asami Mishima, take you Seto Matsuko Kaiba, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward as long as we both shall live."

The priest turned to Kaiba.

"Seto, do you take Kisara to be your wife?"

"I do."

"Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect her, forsaking all others and holding only unto her?"

"I do."

The priest now looked at Kisara.

"Kisara, do you take Seto to be your husband?"

"I do."

"Do you promise to love, honor, cherish and protect him, forsaking all others and holding only unto him?"

"I do."

"Wedding rings are an unbroken circle of love, signifying to all the union of this couple in marriage. May we have the rings, please?" Kobe brought up the rings. Seto took hers and slid it onto her delicate finger, saying:

Kisara, This ring is my sacred gift, with my promise that I will always love you, cherish you and honor you all the days of my life. And with this ring, I thee wed."

Kisara beamed at him as she slid the silver band on his ring finger.

"Seto, This ring is my sacred gift, with my promise that I will always love you, cherish you and honor you all the days of my life. And with this ring, I thee wed."

The priest smiled, and said, "By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. Seto, You may kiss your bride!"

The two of them shared a passionate kiss, and their small crowd burst into applause.

"I present to you, Mr. And Mrs. Seto Kaiba!"

The applause went on. However, one person kept clapping long after the others had stopped. The happy couple turned to see a figure engulfed in shadows. When they came into the light, Seto was very surprised, and walked over to where they stood.

"Ishizu? What are you doing here? And how did you find me?"

"I have come to warn you." She said. "You and your family are in great danger."


	23. Warning

Ishizu's words made Seto freeze. Kisara saw his posture change and frowned. She wanted to see what was going on, but his body language suggested that it was a private conversation. Kaiba could feel the eyes of his bride on him, so he ushered Ishizu into the house. His mood shifted from shock to anger in a blink.

"How did you get in my house?!" He demanded.

"My millennium necklace can show me the future, including when your security changes shifts."

"Get off of my property now before I have you arrested!" He hissed.

"You're in danger, Kaiba. So is your wife, and so is your son."

Seto was about to throw a fit of epic proportions when he noticed she used the word "son" Instead of "brother". It stopped him cold.

"What did you just say?"

"Your son is in danger." She enunciated each word so that there was no mistaking her words.

"How did you-?"

"I can see the future." She reminded him. "I saw when the two of you went to court and were granted custody of him."

Seto didn't know how to respond to that, so he tried a different tact. "Why is he in danger?"

"Today you released the announcement of your marriage, and it made international headlines."

"Yes," He agreed, "And?"

"Maximillion Pegasus witnessed it. And he wasn't pleased."

"What does that have to do with-"

"He wants to destroy what you have." She said, bluntly. "He will stop at nothing to take it."

Seto was quiet. That he could believe. But it didn't make it any easier to take. "Why us?" He asked, finally.

"I was raised as a tomb keeper in Egypt." She began. "I was raised on the ancient scriptures, and in them there was a story that may explain why you two were chosen."

"I don't have time for your Egyptian fairytales!" He bellowed.

"If you choose not to listen, you may lose information that could save your child."

Seto grumbled at her, but couldn't argue with her. "Fine. But make it fast."

"Five thousand years ago an ancient Pharaoh battled against a great evil. There were several members of his court. One of them was a young sorcerer who was much like you. His father abandoned him at a young age. Legend has it that he saved a girl from a village fire. He rose to greatness under the pharaoh. In those ancient times, they played a game similar to Duel Monsters, and the young sorcerer used the millennium rod to extract them. He came across a young woman preparing to be stoned for her fair skin and odd hair. He recognized her as the girl he saved. So he took her back to the palace. There was a great power inside of her. The head of the pharoh's court, who held the millennium eye, wanted the young man to extract it from her. But he refused. He had fallen in love with her. It was later revealed that the head of the pharoh's court was the young Sorcerer's father. But the great evil the pharoh was battling had taken over him. He wanted his son to join him, tried to get the monster out of the young girl, but the Sorcerer refused. When his father attacked, the young girl protected him, and paid the price. Her monster was the blue eyes white dragon, and it was used to defeat his father. Eventually, he helped the Pharaoh defeat the evil one, using the blue eyes white dragon. So you see, Kaiba, it was no coincidence that you met and married Kisara. You were destined to come together from the beginning. And now you must come together once more to defeat the new holder of the millennium eye."

Seto only waited a beat before saying, "You really expect me to believe that?"

"No, I don't. What I do think you'll believe is that Pegasus is a danger to your family. I know you would do anything to keep them safe. That is why I came here today."

Seto was torn. On the one hand he wanted to throw this woman out of his home and call her crazy, but on the other hand her words made sense. A frightening amount of sense. Deciding it was better to be safe than sorry, he sighed. "What do I need to do?"

Ishizu smiled faintly. "First, you'll need this." She pulled the millennium rod from her back. "This may be your only defense against Pegasus' mind reading."

"Are you saying it can block it?"

"It's possible. It's your best chance."

"What do I tell my family?"

"Don't. Their minds won't be protected. You mustn't let them find out until the time comes." She handed him a piece of paper that he slid into his suit pocket. He didn't look at it, knowing it would have to be opened in private.

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"You only have a few weeks." She said. "Enjoy them while you can."

"Where?" He asked quietly.

"I haven't been able to tell. He hasn't made a solid decision yet."

Seto nodded. "If he does-"

"You'll be the first to know." She promised. "I am sorry to have tainted your day with this, but I thought you should know as soon as possible." Her tone was apologetic. Seto had worked with enough businessmen to know when someone was faking emotions. This wasn't one of them. He nodded.

"Thank you."

"Yes. And congratulations. I truly hope you and your wife are happy together."

He nodded, a fast, jerky bob. "I should get back to her."

She stood up. "Yes. Thank you for having me."

He shook her hand and she left.

Seto watched her leave, his face a mixture of anxiety and regret. Then, he turned around and went to the altar where his wife was waiting for him. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Who was that?" She asked.

"Just a reporter." He lied smoothly. She smiled, and the lot of them went inside for a small reception. Seto focused on the joy of the day, making every moment perfect. It wasn't until he went to bed that night that his fear began to circle in his mind.

 _What was he going to do?_


	24. Truth

Seto spent the next week trying to enjoy his family as much as possible. He wished he were like any other newlywed man, treasuring his time with his new bride and child, but there was a darkness that overshadowed every action they took. He had wanted to bring it up to Kisara, but had no idea how to. For the time being, he didn't want to worry her. Still, Ishizu's warning haunted him in the throes of the night, waking him four or five times every day. Luckily he was used to lack of sleep, so it didn't bother him too much. His marriage announcement had brought a media frenzy to their doorstep, so he found it remarkably easy to fill his time during the day. His employees were made well aware of the new Mrs. Kaiba, and whenever they saw her in the building they were extremely courteous and obsequious to her. When he met with employees in his office, he noticed that most of them stared at the silver wedding band on his ring finger. The same thing happened at school- particularly from Yugi's band of nerds- but he threw himself into his work to avoid talking about it.

Kisara grew worried for her husband over the next week. He was an excellent actor- so good that if she had been anyone else she would have been convinced he was fine. But she knew better. This wasn't normal. And he was keeping something from her. She felt him waking up during the night. She saw the shadows under his eyes. She knew something was wrong. So one night, when Mokuba was tucked in bed sleeping, she went over to him and slid into his lap.

"What's going on?" She asked. Seto stiffened.

"What do you mean?"

Kisara gave him an exasperated look. "Did you really think I wouldn't notice the change in your behavior?"

He sighed. "I'd hoped."

She waited for him to start talking. "You're in danger, and so is Mokuba. Pegasus is coming for all of us."

It seemed like an eternity ago that he's told Kisara of the many foolish people who had tried to take over his company. Pegasus was the first he had told her about. From the look in her eyes, she remembered his words very well.

"Why didn't you tell me?" The hurt in her voice was a blow to the heart.

"I wanted to. I just didn't want to worry you. I wanted you to have one week of normalcy before we had to worry about something like this again."

She smiled faintly. "So what are we going to do?"

Seto got up and went over to the side of the bed to get the millennium rod. He showed it to Kisara.

"What is that?" She asked.

"It's the only thing that might keep my mind safe from Pegasus." He said. Kisara stared at the eye of Wdjat. Where had she seen it before. She scanned her memory, trying to figure it out. Then it hit.

"The symbol on the rod... It's the same one on the necklace that girl who came to our wedding wore."

Seto nodded. "Her name is Ishizu. She's the one who warned me."

Kisara sighed. She knew that woman wasn't some reporter. "What will we tell Mokuba."

"We're not telling him anything about this. Not until we know what we're facing." Seto said sharply. Although Kisara was his mother, Seto knew Mokuba better, and didn't want him to be needlessly distressed over this. Kisara nodded quietly, respecting his wishes.

For a minute, no one said anything. Kisara then reached up and stroked his cheek. "You're frightened, aren't you?" She asked softly.

His blue eyes were hard and cold as he squeezed her hand. "Yes." He admitted quietly.

"It's okay to be afraid." She said. She couldn't help wondering if he was scared for himself at all. She knew this admittance of fear was for Mokuba, not him. "You're a father. It happens." She soothed.

He sighed. "I just hate that I'm putting everyone I love in danger again. You don't know how guilty it makes me feel..."

"Don't I?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. He remembered the fire, and knew she was thinking the same thing.

"There's a difference." He said quietly. "That wasn't really your fault. This one is entirely on me."

"No it's not." She said sharply. He looked over at her, confused. She reached up to caress his cheek. "It's his fault. Not yours. He chose the path that led him here. You had nothing to do with that."

He wanted to believe that, but deep down, he knew the truth. If his pride hadn't gotten the best of him, they wouldn't be in this situation. If his family was harmed in any way because of his decision, he knew he could never forgive himself. Still, he tried to smile at her in thanks.

Kisara knew that he didn't believe her. It hurt to know that somewhere inside of him he was blaming himself for all this. She knew the kind of man her husband was to the world: Cold, cruel, shrewd, and unfeeling. But the face she saw was a caring one. One of love, happiness, and protectiveness. She knew he would never endanger his family on purpose. He loved the both of them too much to do such a callous thing. Her mind couldn't help flipping through the possibilities of how their lives would end. Spent in one of Pegasus' soul cards that Seto had told her about, or time in the shadow realm- the dreaded place Mokuba had described to her. She felt her heart sink inside her chest as she scanned all the options. Her anxiety- always ill-contained to begin with- rose and peaked as she felt her chest restrict with the weight of their situation. Panic sparked up inside of her, and her face became rigid with distress.

"What will we do?" She wondered aloud. Seto looked at her for a long moment before he finally spoke up.

"We'll do this like we've done everything else, Kisara. Side by side."


	25. Clues

Now that Kisara was aware of what was going on, Kaiba felt that he had a little more breathing room in his situation. He still kept himself cheery when Mokuba was around, but when he wasn't Seto was able to be himself. He and Kisara were preparing for a battle with Pegasus as best they could. But doing it alone was difficult. With no context as to when Pegasus would arrive or where the final confrontation would take place, every moment was made even precious. Seto spent as much time at home as possible, trying to cram in as much togetherness as he could. If Pegasus somehow managed to capture him again, he would go down knowing that he never missed a second with his family. They made brownies, played together, read stories together, and had family dinners. It seemed like there was nothing that couldn't be shared between the three of them. However, there was one thing that Seto had kept from both of them that he hadn't let slip.

The piece of paper he had received from Ishizu.

He had kept it folded up and had hidden in his jacket since he received it. He was careful to be sure no one else saw it. Their minds wouldn't be safe from Pegasus. Only his was.

So one day, when Mokuba was still at school and Kisara was at work, Seto came home early and immediately locked himself in his study. Then, he turned off the security cameras in the study deliberately. He needed to make sure there was no way anyone could see him. Finally, when he knew no one was going to be able to see him, he took the piece of paper out from his jacket and carefully unfolded it onto his desk. The name Colten Sterling and an address outside of Domino was written inside of it. He looked up directions on his laptop, and memorized them. Then, he deleted his internet history just in case his wife or son were to come looking for him, or use his laptop, although it was unlikely. He couldn't take the chance. Now he just had to wait for a time when he could get away from his family to find out why Ishizu had given it to him.

The opportunity came three days later. Although she didn't want to go, Kisara had been asked to speak at a conference, and Mokuba was at a play date at Charlotte's. So Seto took his personal Ferrari F430 to the address just outside Domino. Though he didn't admit anything out loud, the address gave him hope. Maybe there was a way to protect his family after all. And maybe Colten Sterling was the key.

The drive took him about a half hour. In that time he had plenty to brood about, but shook it off when he knew he was nearing his destination. The neighborhood was full of run down buildings and looked like a ghetto. Seto briefly wondered if it was safe to leave his car there, and was mildly irritated at Ishizu for sending him to such a disgusting part of town. But all it took was one reminder of why he was here to make him shut his mouth. The address was a square building that was three stories high. He pulled into a parking spot and got out, making sure to turn on his car alarm and grab his briefcase before he went inside.

From the moment he stepped in he saw the crumbling building on the outside was just a front. The inside had marble floors, expensive light fixtures hanging from the ceilings, and a reception area with the latest computer technology right by an elevator. There was a directory beside it. The materials inside were expensive, as he was in a position to know. He'd had the room that was now Mokuba's nursery remodeled, and the costs were easily in the hundred thousands for the materials he'd seen. Seto absorbed all this as he crossed the room to the elevator. The gold plated sign said Colten Sterling, CEO Sterling Print Company, third floor.

Seto considered that for a minute. This man was in the printing business. That had to mean something. He remembered the outside of the building and the contrast to the inside. A printing shop would never make someone enough money for this kind of interior.

Not unless they were printing something other than newspapers.

He got into the elevator and pushed the button for the third floor. The elevator music was supposed to be soothing, but he felt himself growing agitated at the happy sound. He was desperate, not joyful. When the doors opened, he was relieved. The brunette haired receptionist welcomed him and asked if he had an appointment.

"No. But I need to see Mr. Sterling immediately."

She eyed him suspiciously. "May I have your name, sir?"

"Seto Kaiba."

The receptionist picked up the phone. "Mr. Sterling, I apologize for interrupting, but there is someone here to see you." He only heard her half of the conversation. "No, he doesn't have an appointment but he-... Yes, I'm aware of that, but he didn't seem like the usual... His name? Seto Kaiba." She flinched away from the phone as he heard the man shouting expletives at her and watched as she blanched white as a sheet. "O-Of course. Right away, sir." She hung up the phone and ran out of the receptionist area. In her pink sweater and pencil skirt she looked no older than her early twenties. She offered him whatever he wanted, clearly distressed, but he didn't accept anything. There was a pair of mahogany doors by the desk, and the young woman opened them for him. He didn't bother to thank her as he stepped inside. He took a second to bring himself back to reality. It was time to see what Colten Sterling could do, and hopefully how he could help save his family.


	26. Papers

Seto took a step forward onto the navy blue carpet. The room had wood paneling and small lamps on some of the walls. A large window on the back wall looked out over the neighborhood. In front of the window was a large mahogany desk, filled with files, papers, a cup full of pens, and a computer set diagonally on one side. There was an office chair behind the desk, facing the window.

"Close the door behind you." A deep tenor voice boomed.

The young woman obeyed and closed the doors behind him before skittering back to her desk. Seto watched the man turn in the chair. He was thin and lanky, with coal black hair that was coiffed to one side. He wore an expensive black suit with a white dress shirt, red silk tie, and what looked to be monogrammed cuff links. He had a white smile and bright blue eyes that made it immediately clear that he was up to no good.

He stood up. "Mr. Kaiba. It's a pleasure meeting you." He offered his hand, and Seto shook it firmly, making it clear with his gaze that he didn't have time for games.

"Likewise, Mr. Sterling."

"Please, call me Colten."

"If you prefer." He was more than familiar with business protocol.

"Please, take a seat." He said, gesturing to what looked like an expensive leather chair. Seto obliged him. Colten had a smile that he immediately mistrusted, but he couldn't afford for his personal prejudices to get in the way of this meeting. It was far too important. Colten leaned forward onto the desk. "I'm delighted to meet the head of Kaiba Corp. What brings you in today?" He asked.

"Papers." Seto replied, hoping it was vague enough to uncover whatever secrets Colten had to hide. Sterling's eyes shifted from polite interest to dark intensity. He leaned back in his chair.

"Certainly, Mr. Kaiba. What do you need? Birth Certificates, Passports, Driver's Licenses, Social Security Cards...?"

Seto found himself filled with relief when he cracked the big secret, but his relief disappeared instantaneously as he took in the words coming out of his mouth.

Ishizu had sent him here to save his family. He'd known that from the beginning. She'd seen his love for his child first hand. There was no doubt in his mind that she knew he would do anything to save him. Kisara could handle herself, and he could handle himself, but Mokuba was just a child. Easy prey for any one of Pegasus' minions. The only reason he would need a forger would be because he was running. But that didn't make any sense. Did Ishizu expect them to change their identities and go on the run? What was the point in that? They would still have a target on their backs no matter where they went. And that's when realization struck him.

They would always be a target as long as they were together. But if he and Kisara were apart from him, Mokuba could escape.

Even if they lost their fight, this would give him the chance to run and still have a future.

The slight ray of he'd held inside of him was blocked out by the darkest of clouds. He felt a lump forming in his throat. His son would have a future, but he and his wife wouldn't be a part of it.

But Mokuba couldn't run alone. Who would go with him? He considered that for a moment. Yugi and his friends were out of the question. They attracted danger wherever they went. And he didn't trust any of his security or servants worth a damn. There was only one other person who could possibly help him. Only one person who could take care of Mokuba's needs.

He took in a deep breath, not noticing how long he had paused.

"Three birth certificates, three passports, three social security cards, two ID's and one driver's license." He said slowly, keeping his expression as stoic as possible.

"Very good. Names?"

"... Mokie... Amori, Charlotte Amori, and Kobe Amori." He cringed at using Mokuba's old nickname. He may never be called that again. His eyes grew misty, but his expression didn't change. Colten remained oblivious to his reaction, scribbling the names on a stray piece of paper as quickly as possible.

"Middle names?"

"It doesn't matter. Anything is fine."

He nodded. "Ages?"

"Thirty-Five for the Woman, and nine for both of the boys."

"Alright. Do you have pictures for the documents?" He asked.

"I have them on my phone." He said.

Colten nodded and pulled out a cord with a USB cable at the end. He hooked his phone up to the computer. Kaiba pulled up the pictures, and Colten printed them out. He indicated who was to be whom, and Colten made note of it on his paper. "How soon do you need the documents?" Colten asked.

"The sooner the better."

"Would a week work for you?"

"Perfectly."

"That's considered a rush order. It will cost-"

"I don't care about the cost." Seto interrupted gruffly. "Just tell me what it is and I'll pay it." Colten wrote it down on the bottom of a sticky note. $112,512.00. He had more than that in his briefcase. He counted out half of that amount and slid it across the desk. He'd give him the other half when he got his papers. "I'll meet you here next week to pick them up." Colten looked hesitant.

"Actually I'd rather do it at a more neutral location. I prefer to do business away from the office. Say, at Umizoi No Basho? They have the best seafood in Domino."

Kaiba nodded and tried not to wince. It was where he and Kisara had gone to lunch the first time they kissed, and now stood as a bitter reminder of all he stood to lose. "Very well."

"I'll see you in a week, then." Seto nodded and got up. Colten stood and reached out to shake his hand. "It was a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Kaiba."

Seto nodded curtly, grabbed his briefcase, and walked out the doors.


	27. Letter

Seto drove home with his emotions taking over. He tried to focus on driving, but he couldn't help himself. Knowing what he was about to do was the worst thing he could have ever imagined. The pain inside of him erupted suddenly, so violent that he had to pull off to the side of the road as he broke down and cried. He loved his son more than anything in the world. This was the ultimate torment. He took ten minutes to let his emotions get the best of him before he got back on the road. By the time he got home his face showed no signs of his earlier tears. He had one other thing to do before he went to pick Mokuba up. He went to his study, grabbed a pen and some paper, and sat down at his desk. He stared at the paper a minute, and then started to write.

Dear Mokuba,  
This is the hardest letter I have ever had to write. You mean everything to me, which makes what I'm about to tell you that much harder. I know that I have always been there to protect you, and love you, and hold you, but today you have to leave me. Pegasus has come back and wants to take my family away, so I have to send you away to protect you. I wish there was another way to do it, but there isn't. You aren't safe with me anymore. But I don't want you to be scared. Auntie Charlotte and Kobe will be taking care of you.  
Here's what I want you to know: I want you to know how sorry I am for having to leave you. I know you feel like you didn't get enough time with me, and that you'll feel lost without me. You'll let your sadness take over your life. Forget about that sadness, buddy. Remember how I made you smile. Remember the giggles, the hugs, the kisses, the stories, the cuddles, and the moments that made us a family. I know we only had a short time together as a normal family, but I hope you know I loved every minute of it.  
I love everything about you. I love your happy attitude, and the way you believe in the best in people. I love how you can accept people for who they really are, and how you kept your innocence, even when I lost mine. I hope you never lose that, because that is what makes you unique. You are a light in a dark world, and I want you to stay that way. I hope you go after what you want in life. I hope you keep going when you feel like giving up. I hope you find they joy in the darkest days.  
I haven't said it often enough, but I love you. So does Mommy. In a sea of wrongdoings, you are the the one thing that I got right. I am so proud of you. Never forget that. I will always be with you in spirit and watching over you. Stay safe, be strong, and never give up. You will always be the biggest part of my heart.

Love,  
Daddy

He put the pen down. There was nothing more to say. He put the letter in an envelope, wrote Mokuba's name on the back, and hid it in his nightstand. Then, he looked at the clock. It was almost time to pick Mokuba up from Charlotte's. He got in the car, feeling his heart grow heavy in his chest and drove off.

He got to Charlotte's and rang the doorbell. She answered the door with a smile, but frowned when she saw his face. He shook his head slightly and she nodded before letting him inside.

"Daddy!"

A bright voice brought him out of his despair, and he smiled, opening his arms to his son. Mokuba flew into them. Seto held him tightly to his chest so long Mokuba started squirming in his grip. He let him go with a deep sigh, but made his face look happy.

"Hey buddy. Did you have a good day today?"

"Yeah! Auntie Charlotte and Kobe and I made cookies together!"

"You did? That's great!"

Mokuba nodded enthusiastically. "It was fun."

"Why don't you go play for a few minutes. Daddy needs to talk to Auntie Charlotte outside. Okay?"

Mokuba ran off giggling, and Seto felt his chest tighten with anxiety. He wondered how many times more he would see that before he was gone. Charlotte noticed the look on his face and put a hand on his arm. He looked at her and turned his head one way. She nodded, and they went out to the backyard.

"What's going on?" She asked, face set in worried lines. Seto wondered how he would even begin to explain what was happening.

"My family is in danger." He began. "Do you remember what I told you about Pegasus?" He asked. She nodded. He had briefly explained their past experiences to her one day. "He's coming. And he wants to get rid of my family."

"Why-"

"I don't know." His eyes flashed to where Mokuba was playing inside the house. "But I know that Mokuba isn't safe with Kisara and I." He turned to Charlotte, who was staring at him with wide eyes. "Charlotte, you're the only one who could possibly understand and take care of his needs. There isn't anyone else we trust who can give him what he needs. I know this is a lot to ask, but when the time comes... will you take him? I've taken care of everything. The documents will be done next week, and I'll give you enough money to take care of the three of you for a long time. Until it's safe again... If it ever is... He needs someone to care for him. Will you help me?"

Charlotte couldn't believe her ears, but was quiet for a minute. There wasn't anything holding her here anymore. Ever since her husband had passed away she'd been wanting to travel again. This could be the break she'd been waiting for. She looked at her son, who was playing with Mokuba inside and smiled. The two of them were already inseparable. What was the harm in taking his best friend in. Charlotte looked up at Kaiba and nodded.

"Okay... Yes."


	28. Togetherness

The drive home seemed to go faster than anticipated. Mokuba filled the silence in the car with everything he had done that day with Kobe. Seto smiled and asked questions when it seemed appropriate, relishing in every moment. These are the things he would remember when he was gone. The thought made his heart clinch in his chest, but he made sure his face didn't show any of the agony he felt. When they got home, Seto pulled into the garage and saw that Kisara's car was inside. She must have gotten home early. Mokuba had already jumped out of the car and ran inside before he had turned the engine off. He walked into the house to find his wife. He could hear her humming in the hall and followed the sound to the kitchen, where he stood in the high archway. Mokuba stood far behind her, watching as she sprayed a 8x8 inch baking pan with non-stick spray. Mokuba stepped forward, curious.

"What are you doing, Mommy?" He asked. Kisara turned to him and smiled.

"I'm baking some brownies." She said.

"Why?"

"I like baking." She said. She had done it quite often as a little girl. It had been a release of pressure for her in troubled times. It was cooking that didn't involve fire, so she had enjoyed it for all it was worth.

"Can I help?" He asked. She smiled at him and nodded.

"Sure."

Mokuba beamed up at her and then ran to the dining room to get a chair to stand on. Looking back at him, that's when she noticed her husband in the archway. He was staring at both of them, and she couldn't help wondering what he was thinking. She smiled at him.

He stepped forward and gave her a kiss. He kept a smile on his face for his son's sake, but he couldn't help brooding. How many more times would they have the chance to do things like this as a family? A week? Three days? Twelve hours? He wished forlornly that he knew when their time was up so he could savor these last days with his family.

Mokuba came pushing a chair up to the counter and climbed up onto it. Kisara let him measure and pour the wet ingredients into the bowl, and taught him to crack the egg into a measuring cup in case any bits of shell got into the egg so they could easily be taken out. After letting him mix it all together, they got out the flour. While pouring some of it in the bowl, some of it got on Seto's shirt. Mokuba started giggling madly. Seto, slightly amused, put a finger in the flower and booped his son on the nose. Mokuba laughed and flicked a little toward his Daddy, who dodged it. It got onto Kisara's jacket instead. Seto couldn't help laughing at that. So Kisara took a handful of flour and blew it right into her husband's face. Before long, an all-out flour war emerged, leaving them all covered in white from head to toe.

When the fighting died down, they finished making the brownie batter and put it in the oven. Mokuba insisted they stay until the brownies were done, although his eyelids were beginning to droop. The brownies came out of the oven about half an hour later, and Mokuba instantly ran to get one, but Kisara gently swatted his hand away.

"You have to wait for them to cool or you could burn yourself." She chastised. Mokuba frowned, but nodded and sat at the table. When they were finally cool, Kisara cut him a brownie and placed it in front of him, only to find him asleep at the table. She smiled and shook him awake. It only took him two minutes to eat the brownie, and then he was fast asleep. Seto walked over to him and picked him up.

"Let's give him a bath and put him to bed."

Kisara nodded and followed him to the bathroom. She got the water started while Seto stripped his son of his sodden clothes. Then, carefully, he set him in the tub. Kisara held him upright while Seto scrubbed him clean. Then they both helped dress him in a pair of pajamas, and laid him in his crib to sleep. The two of them watched him silently for a minute before going to their bedroom. Seto set his phone on his nightstand before he went into the en suite bathroom and turned the shower on and started getting his clothes off. His wife did the same. Seto stepped into the shower, and Kisara followed. She started kissing him as her hands roved over his body. It didn't take him long to catch on to the reason for her mood, and he found it easy to reciprocate. They cleaned each other off as they had a passionate make out session in the shower.

Once they were clean, they tumbled into bed together and made love. Afterward, they lay there in bed, just taking in each other's breathing. Suddenly, Seto's cell phone rang on his bedside table, he picked it up and saw it was an unknown number calling. Frowning, he answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"You have two weeks. It will happen at the Kaibadome at eleven in the morning." The familiar voice said. Seto's eyes widened. He knew who it was.

"Okay. Thank you." He said, quietly. The dial tone blared at him, and he hung up the phone. He looked over and saw Kisara's light blue eyes staring at him.

"Who was that?" She asked, stroking his arm.

He looked at her, face serious and pained.

"We have two weeks left." He said, voice quivering.

Kisara's eyes grew wide with understanding, and she cuddled closer to him. She would cherish every last moment they had together for all it was worth. Whatever happened, they would face it as a family. Of that, she was absolutely sure.


	29. Errands

When he wasn't spending time with his family or at work, Seto spent his time trying to learn more about the millennium rod. He had only seen small demonstrations of what it could do before, and now he had to unlock all of its secrets before Pegasus came. Ishizu had only called one other time aside from telling him when the final battle would commence, and it was to tell him about the rod. The item's unique ability granted him the power to control people's minds, turning them into mind slaves. By extension, it was also capable of mind manipulation, allowing him to telepathically communicate with others, look into their memories, trick their minds into believing what he wanted them to, knock people unconscious, and leave a portion of the owner's mind in the people that he had controlled. Not to mention creating shadow games. It had the power to control minds, but could it protect his own? He prayed it would.

He spent time in his home gym practicing with it. He found it could also use telekinetic-like ability to force an opponent back, and to paralyze them. Only Roland was willing to be his test subject, to be thrown against matted walls and made not to move as he grappled with his use of the rod. But every hour he spent working with it he got better at it. So much so that Kisara was beginning to feel a new sense of hope as she watched her husband wield the item.

One day, after practice was over, Kisara saw her husband get dressed up, grab his briefcase, and start off towards the door.

"What are you up to?" She asked curiously. He wasn't one to leave the house unless it was necessary.

"Just need to run a few errands." He said, hoping he sounded nonchalant. She smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Come back soon." She said. He forced a smile.

"Always."

Seto quickly got into his car and drove off to Umizoi No Basho for his appointment with Colten Sterling. He gave the name Sterling at the front and was escorted back to the same private room where he had met with his wife for their first lunch together. He couldn't help himself from thinking that the circle was now complete. His life has started there, and now it was coming to an end there. Colten was already seated and stood up to greet him.

"Good evening, Mr. Kaiba." He said, holding out his hand. "It's a pleasure to see you again." Seto nodded, and the waiter brought them drinks and took their orders before they were left alone. Colten pulled a Manila envelope from his jacket and slid it across the table. "Your items, sir."

Seto picked up the envelope and took out everything one by one. Everything seemed perfect. But every time he saw Mokuba's name on those documents it put a lump in his throat. He nodded, not trusting his voice, pulled out his briefcase, and gave him the other $56,256.00 he owed him, plus a small bonus. "Thank you." The words were quiet. He slipped the envelope in his jacket, close to his heart.

Colten nodded. "I fashioned every piece myself. I can assure you that they have met and are up to The Sterling Standard."

Briefly, Seto recalled reading one of the local papers and seeing Colten talk about and describe what he called "The Sterling Standard"- the promise of giving people the highest quality materials and a perfect customer service experience. He nodded, not really caring about his words.

"I'm sure they are." He said.

"Do you have any questions or concerns about your items?" Asked Colten. Seto thought about that carefully before answering.

"I can't think of anything."

"Would you like my number in case you have any later?"

Seto nodded. Colten pulled out a business card and handed it to him. He studied it for a minute before putting it in his jacket pocket. The two of them had dinner, discussing neutral topics unrelated to their lives or businesses until dessert came around.

"I almost forgot," said Colten, "I wanted to offer you my belated congratulations on your marriage. It's wonderful that you have found a partner so early in life." His eyes flashed to the silver band on Seto's ring finger. Unconsciously, Seto winced.

"Thank you." He said. He compulsively glanced down at Colten's left hand. There was no ring on it. "I hope you find as much happiness as I have someday."

An odd look flickered through Colten's face before he smiled again. "Thank you very much, Mr. Kaiba."

Seto nodded. "Certainly."

Dessert was over as quickly as it had begun. When the empty plates were taken away and the check was laid on the table, Colten paid for everything in cash before turning to his guest.

"Well, this evening has been an absolute pleasure. It's been a wonderful experience working with you, Mr. Kaiba. I sincerely hope you feel free to come to me for any of your needs in the future." He stood up, with a smile that made Seto wonder if there was a camera behind him. Seto stood and shook his hand.

"Thank you for all of your help, Colten." The words he said were begrudging, but he hid them under a layer of gratitude.

"Absolutely, sir. I hope to have your business again in the future."

Seto nodded, a fast bob. Inside, he was hoping he would never see the man again for a purpose like this. He and Colten walked to the parking lot together, splitting up when they reached the outside of the front doors. It was pouring rain outside, and Seto hurried and got inside of his car. He took the business card Colten had given to him and slid it inside of the Manila envelope, before he put the envelope itself in the glovebox for safekeeping.

There was still one last errand he had left to run before he could go back home.


	30. Visit

Seto felt his heart sink into his stomach as he pulled up to his destination. This was the last place he wanted to be right now, but he had no choice in the matter. He parked his car, grabbed an umbrella, opened it after he opened the door, and walked into the rain. He shut the car door, locked it, and ran inside the building. He folded up his umbrella and looked up. Solomon Moto stood there, surprised to see him, if not a little wary.

"Good evening Kaiba. Can I help you?" He asked as politely as he could.

"I need to speak with Yugi. It's urgent." He said crisply. Solomon nodded.

"I'll go get him."

Seto crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently. He wanted to get this over with and go home to his family. Yugi came down, along with his friends who he had been hanging out with upstairs.

"Oh great, the entire nerd heard is here." He murmured.

"Watch it, Rich Boy!" Barked Joey. Seto ignored him.

"What are you doing here, Kaiba?" Asked Yugi.

Seto sighed, hoping it would help him put some of his pride aside. "I need your help."

That shut all of them up. For a moment no one knew how to respond. Yugi stepped forward. "With what?"

"My family is in danger. Pegasus is coming, and he wants to take us all down. As much as I hate to say it, I can't do this alone."

Seto ignored the slack-jawed spectators and focused on Yugi. "How can I help?"

"I need someone to make him hesitate. If I could make him pause long enough then maybe I could have a shot at taking him down..."

"How are you gonna do that?" Asked Tristan.

"The millennium eye can see into your mind. You can't hide anything from Pegasus." Said Yugi.

"Unless you have another millennium item." Kaiba said calmly.

"But you-"

"I do now. I have the millennium rod."

"How?" He asked, flabbergasted.

"Ishizu. She came and warned me about what was going to happen."

"Did she tell you when?"

"Next week. One week from today, at eleven AM, in the Kaibadome."

"We'll be there." He promised.

Seto nodded his thanks before he anxiously drove back home. The rain had cleared up by then. The drive, though short, was enough to make him agitated. His mind kept drifting to the illegal documents in his glovebox. On a whim, he drove to an ATM machine near his home and withdrew as much money as it would allow. It was only a thousand dollars. Not nearly enough for what he needed. So he took his paltry grand and put it in his briefcase.

When he got home, he expected his family to be there. But instead the house seemed empty. Mokuba had fallen asleep on the couch, and he heard Kisara on the phone in the study. Which meant he had the house to himself, and He was quick to take advantage of it. Padding down the hall to the master bedroom, he rummaged around his closet until he found a backpack. He grabbed the letter he had written for Mokuba from the nightstand and put it in the pack. Then, he put in the illegal documents, the cash in his briefcase (he planned on visiting the bank and withdrawing a larger amount closer to the time of battle), a note for Charlotte, and finally the caretaking manual he'd made for Mokuba all that time ago. Now, there was only one thing left to decide.

Where would he send the three of them?

The place he sent them would have to be somewhere safe. Somewhere Pegasus could never find him. He remembered being told of Ishizu's heritage, and remembered that pyramids were known to have underground passages. If he was underground, there was no way Pegasus could find him. Perhaps he could even find Ishizu there. Then he could know what was coming to him. It would be the best way to keep him safe. He wondered if Ishizu could see him right now. On a piece of paper, he wrote Cairo, Egypt before putting it in the envelope with the documents and zipping the backpack shut. The idea of giving his son this put a lump in his throat, and he quickly shoved it under the bed. He would give it to him when the time was right. Satisfied that he'd done enough for the day, he went to find his wife.

Kisara had just finished her phone call when her husband entered. She smiled, white teeth showing.

"Back so soon?" She asked, getting up and walking over to him so she could wrap her arms around his neck. He grinned and kissed her.

"You know I can't stand to be away from you for too long." She laughed, and it resonated through his entire body. He reached up to cup her face. Theirs had been a whirlwind romance. One straight from a cheesy movie or a soap opera. It should have been disgusting to him, and yet he didn't mind at all. Because it meant that she was his, and that was all that mattered to him. "I love you." He said quietly. She kissed him gently.

"As I love you." She reached out to hold his hand. "Are you hungry? I haven't eaten yet. We can make a date of it."

He thought about Mokuba lying on the couch. "How about we make it a family dinner?" He asked, despite having eaten not too long ago. He couldn't bear to be away from his family for another minute.

"Sounds good to me." She said, smiling. Seto went over to the couch and gently scooped his son into his arms. Mokuba's head rested on his shoulder, and he brushed a lock of hair behind his ear as his wife went to give dinner orders to the kitchen staff. He looked at the innocent face of his sleeping son and knew that all he wanted now was to be able to save him. Pressing a kiss to his head, he whispered into his ear:

"I promise I'll never let anyone hurt you."


	31. Goodbyes

The last week before the inevitable battle seemed to run itself out like sand in an hourglass. Seto seemed to have adapted a form of hyper focus. When he wasn't working, he was practicing with the millennium rod. He now had an excellent feel for how it worked, and was simply checking and rechecking it's abilities to be sure of what it could do. But mostly, in those last few days, he spent time with his family. There was nothing more important to him than that. They all did small things together. In the end they all knew that the small hours spent together would mean more if they didn't make it out alive.

Kaiba only left the house for something outside of work once. It was a Wednesday morning, and he had the day off. He had gone to the bank when his wife and child were asleep to get the rest of the money for Charlotte, whom he called while he was waiting in line. He instructed her on where to meet him and what to bring. He liquidated his savings account, and took all of the money in a briefcase before heading home. He put all of the cash in the backpack, hoping that the backpack wouldn't be too heavy for his son to carry. He knew he would have to add his son's favorite bear to the pack after he woke up on that morning. He wouldn't have him go anywhere without it.

Finally, the morning of the confrontation came.

Seto had spent the entire night awake. He couldn't sleep, and neither could Kisara. They spent the night in each other's arms, talking, kissing, and occasionally praying. They got up and dressed together before getting Mokuba ready. He was confused as to why he had been gotten up so early, but didn't ask any questions out loud. Seto made sure he was wearing sturdy clothing, ones that were appropriate for the fall weather. A pair of jeans, a long sleeved T-Shirt, sneakers, and a jacket. Before they left he grabbed the millennium rod and put it in his belt before he put the bear in the backpack and instructed Mokuba to not take it off no matter what happened. Eyes wide at the serious tone in his father's voice, he nodded and agreed.

They picked up Yugi and his friends before they headed to Kaibaland. He asked Kisara to unlock the park and take Yugi and his friends to the Kaibadome, so that he could have a moment alone with his son. When Seto was sure they were out of earshot, he turned to his son, despair written across his face. Mokuba's eyes widened, and he instantly grew scared.

"I love you." Seto began. "More than anything in the world. I would do anything for you."

"I love you too, Daddy." He said, but frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Do you trust me?" He asked suddenly. Mokuba touched his locket and nodded.

"Of course I do. Daddy, you're scaring me. What's wrong?"

Seto took a deep breath. "When the time comes today, you have to leave me."

Mokuba's eyes widened in shock and his eyes welled up with tears. He threw his arms around Seto's neck and wrapped his legs around his waist.

"Don't think about it." He whispered into his son's hair. "Don't tell anyone until I tell you to, okay?" Mokuba nodded into his father's shoulder. Connected this way, they went into Kaibaland. By the time they had entered the Kaibadome, the others were almost at the stage. The dueling arena still stood as a divider between sides, but it likely wouldn't be used. Seto carried Mokuba all the way there. His wife watched him with wide eyes. When they reached each other, they held hands. Whatever end came to them, it would find them together.

For a little over two hours they stayed that way. No one talked, they barely breathed. The air hung heavy with anticipation. Suddenly, the door opened. Everyone but Seto jumped to their feet. Was this it? They all relaxed when they saw Charlotte. She made her way to the stage. Seto loosened the vice grip Mokuba had on his neck.

"Do you remember what I told you before?" He asked, trying to keep his voice even. Mokuba's face crumpled as he started to cry.

"I love you." He whispered. Seto's grip on him tightened as everyone else watched with wide eyes.

"I love you too. More than anything." He kissed his son's forehead, his cheeks, and looked at him one last time before he sighed heavily. Mokuba ran into Kisara's arms, and she gave him a long hug and some kisses before she let him go. Seto took Mokuba over to where Charlotte was standing and put his son's hand in hers.

"Use the back entrance and get in your car. Drive away from here as fast as you possibly can. Don't stop until you get to an airport that's at least five towns over. When you've gotten that far, he has everything you need in his backpack."

Charlotte nodded. "Okay."

Seto squeezed his son's hand. "Take care of him for me, Char."

"I will." She promised, taking Mokuba's hand.

Kisara stepped forward to hold her husband's hand. They both watched with heavy hearts as she led Mokuba out the back door. Kisara turned to face her husband.

"This is why you didn't tell him?"

"Yes."

"And me?"

"Yes."

"Ishizu?"

He nodded. Her face contorted with pain, but she didn't cry.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. She nodded, took a deep breath, and composed herself.

Seto didn't bother looking at Yugi and his friends. He couldn't do it. Not if he wanted to stay strong. He could feel their stares boring into him. But he ignored it. He and Kisara stood side by side, holding hands. Behind them, Yugi and his friends had a few tears rolling down his cheeks.

Then, the door opened, revealing three figures bathed in white light. Seto's breathing hitched.

It was time.


	32. Confrontation

They came slowly, with the kind of grace and poise attainable only by the most fluid of ballerinas, and yet their walk was also a solid march. Every step was precise, and they moved as though they were one body instead of three. Slowly, they made their way up onto the stage. Pegasus' sheath of silver hair caught the stage lights, making it shimmer. The two men behind him were Croquet and Kemo. They stopped a few feet behind their boss, and Seto wondered why he hadn't bothered to bring any of his own security team. Oh well. It didn't matter now. Pegasus scanned the small crowd, eyes searching for someone who apparently wasn't there. His lips pursed into a tight line. He was disappointed, but otherwise he didn't show it. His expression turned amused. He stepped forward.

"It's been quite a while since we've seen one another, Kaiba-boy. I see you've been busy in my absence." His eyes moved to Kisara. "My belated congratulations on your nuptials. I should have sent something."

Kaiba nodded in acknowledgement of his flattery. As much as he wanted to get this over with, he knew letting him talk was the best way of getting him to reveal himself.

"Ah well, we're together now. Isn't it wonderful?" Pegasus let his disappointment show through now. "But I see we aren't all together. Where on earth is your son, Kaiba-boy?" Imperceptibly, Kaiba flinched.

"Gone." Said Seto flatly.

"Oh." Said Pegasus softly, as if he were trying to comfort a crying child. Kaiba detected a hint of agitation beneath the surface. He silently thanked Ishizu for giving him the gift of his son's safety. "Where is he then?" Seto found Pegasus' lack of subtlety annoying.

"Not important." He said, blue eyes hardening.

Pegasus made chastising noises with his mouth. "The safety of children is very important."

"That is precisely why he isn't here. It was safer for him to be somewhere else."

"I'm sorry you feel that way." He said, nothing but polite interest in his tone. Seto felt a qualification coming. "But at least your bride was able to be with us. May I meet your lovely wife?" He asked. Yugi and his friends couldn't get used to the idea that Kaiba had a wife, and looked at her oddly. Seto stepped in front of her in a protective crouch.

"Not going to happen." He hissed. Pegasus looked put out.

"I tried to be polite about it, but you really are forcing my hand- or in this case, my eye." He moved some of his hair to show the millennium eye. It started to glow as he tried to penetrate Seto's mind to find where his child was. He knew if he had Mokuba that he would have the leverage he needed to make things go his way. But his mind was protected somehow. Seto pulled the millennium rod out from behind him and stuck it out in front of himself and his wife.

"Guess again." He said.

Pegasus' eyes widened at the sight of the millennium rod. "My, my, my, you have been busy, haven't you?"

"Busy finding ways to thwart you." He said dryly. Pegasus' eyes narrowed, and it became apparent that the polite exterior he'd worked hard to maintain was beginning to crack and fall away.

"It seems as though we are at an impasse." He said quietly. Kaiba kept his defensive position, not trusting Pegasus for a minute.

"So it seems."

"Let us react civilly, then."

"Fair words coming from a man who came to seek out and destroy my family." Kaiba snarled. Pegasus put on a show of mock hurt.

"What harsh words! I would never do such a thing!"

"Then why are you here, you rat?"

"I know why!" A voice piped up. Seto turned to look at Yugi, who stepped forward. "You came here because you can't stand that Kaiba has what you lost!"

Pegasus stared at him incredulously. The words were like a physical blow to him, and he stepped back. How had he known? For a second he was shocked, and then his anger flowed through him, unrestrained.

"How dare you?!" He questioned. It took Seto a minute to catch on to what he meant, but with Ishizu's story running in his mind, it wasn't hard to piece together.

"So you did all of this because I have a wife and son and you don't? That's pathetic. I can't believe I'm here listening to this. You lost your wife. Get over it and move on. Being stuck in the past will get you nowhere. It's only by looking forward that we achieve our goals. Are you going to spend the rest of your life trying to tear other people down just to get your way? Why don't you appreciate what you do have instead of what you don't?"

Pegasus' fury was palpable. "How dare you talk about my wife that way! What do you think you would do if the same thing happened to yours?! Married not even three weeks and then she's struck by a devastating disease! And no matter how much money you have you can't buy a cure to save her! Do you truly believe that you are immune to the same fate?!"

Color crept up Kaiba's neck as he remembered doing CPR over Kisara's dead body. "No. I don't."

Pegasus' anger overtook him, and his millennium eye glowed with malicious intent. "You think you're above me?"

Abruptly, the room around them became overtaken with a purple haze. Seto recognized it as a shadow game, and remembered the last one he had fought against Pegasus. Only with the help of his son had he been able to win. Now he wondered morbidly if he would be able to win without him. Still, he maintained a superior façade.

Kaiba smirked. "I don't have to think about that. I know." Pegasus glowered at him, shaking with righteous anger.

"Then prepare yourself, Kaiba-Boy. It's time to duel!"


	33. Millennium Mash Up Duel: Part One

Kaiba's heartbeat quickened at the sound of the challenge. Adrenaline pumped through him, making his ears pound. He was made acutely aware of why he was here. He couldn't afford to back out of this duel. If Pegasus was defeated, his son would have all the breathing room he needed. He could finally be with his son again. His purpose was clear in his mind, but just as he went to take his step forward, he felt a sudden pressure on his arm. He turned to see his wife holding his bicep in her grip and looking at him with worry in her eyes.

Kisara knew her husband better than anyone. The only person who might know him better was Mokuba, but that was to be expected. She knew he never backed down from a challenge. His pride compelled him to step up and take on whatever was being thrown at him. It was something she admired about him, but at the same time, she saw the flip side of it. Pride was Seto's biggest weakness as well as his greatest strength. She couldn't bear to see him slaughtered for it. When he stepped forward, she grabbed his arm, staring at him with a silent plea to not go.

Seto smiled at her, and it soothed her a little, but not nearly enough to make her calm. He reached up and stroked her cheek, and she caught his hand, pressing it to her skin. They shared a look for a minute, before Kisara nodded. Seto kissed her on the lips gently before he headed for the dueling platform. She didn't let go of his hand until the last possible second, and when his hand finally left hers, her hand flew to the tiny silver heart shaped locket nestled into the hollow of her throat. It had pictures of Seto and Mokuba. She hoped that they would be okay.

Seto looked down at the duel disk on his arm. It felt so strange to take it off and duel in an arena again. But he felt something even more strange beginning to happen. He touched his deck, and he felt it vibrating under his fingers. His eyes widened. Was it a bug in the duel disk? He shook his head. That was impossible. He'd spared no expense to make sure they were perfect. So then what was going on? He felt compelled to look through his deck. He did so on instinct, and saw something surprising. His three Blue Eyes White Dragon cards were glowing brightly. The glow was bright enough to illuminate his face. He took the three cards in hand, the vibrating ceasing as he did so, and looked back at his wife. The cards seemed to connect to her in his mind for some reason, and that's when he remembered Ishizu's words. How the blue eyes supposedly connected to his wife. When he remembered that, the cards stopped glowing.

Pegasus looked on in boredom. "I don't have all day!" He snapped.

His voice was enough to snap Seto back to the present. He put the cards back into his deck and shuffled them before setting them in their appropriate place. The arena roared to life. Each duelist drew five cards, and then the game began.

"I'll start." Said Pegasus. "I'll begin with Witch Of The Black Forest in attack mode! Then I'll place three cards face down, and I'll end my turn."

Kaiba's eyes narrowed. He knew exactly why Pegasus played that card. He wanted him to attack. But his face down cards remained a mystery. He decided to play it safe for now. He couldn't afford to attack and make a costly mistake. "I'll place one monster in defense mode, and a card face down. That ends my turn."

Pegasus smiled. It was just as he wanted. "Excellent. Now I sacrifice my Witch Of The Black Forest to bring forth my Illusionist Faceless Mage!"

When the monster came forth, Seto was floored and very very confused. Where was he going with this?

"And now I equip my Mage with the mystical black pendant, increasing his power by 500 points! Now Faceless Mage, attack his face down monster!" Seto's monster was destroyed, but his life points remained in tact. "Then, I'll activate monster reborn to bring my Witch Of The Black Forest back from the graveyard! Now my witch, attack his life points directly!"

Seto lost 1100 points, and doubled over in pain. Unseen by him, Kisara lurched forward, as if she couldn't help herself from trying to help her husband to his feet, but Yugi held her back. Kaiba was more than capable of taking care of himself in the dueling arena. The card he had put down last turn was Mystical Space Typhoon, and he could have used it to cancel out monster reborn and save his life points, but he couldn't do that. Knowing Pegasus, he had kept his Toon Deck. If he wanted a shot at completely defeating him, he had to take out Toon World. If he could get that card out of the game, he could win. He just knew it. He pulled himself up, very conscious of his wife's eyes assessing him, and saw Pegasus chuckling.

"Only one move in and you've already lost a quarter of your life points? You really need to step up your game, Kaiba-Boy. Or else you're bound to lose."

Seto gritted his teeth as he stared down his enemy. He had the millennium rod in his belt, and wanted to run his fingers over the smooth metal surface for reassurance that his thoughts were safe. He wished he could use it to put Pegasus in his place, but he knew that Pegasus could easily fight back with his millennium eye. There was, however, one piece of wisdom in Pegasus' words, no matter how much he hated the fact: if he didn't start giving this game his all, he was going to lose.

And he could not afford to let that happen.


	34. Millennium Mash Up Duel: Part 2

Kisara watched with wary eyes as the duel continued. Intellectually she knew that he would be fine in a duel. He was a champion. She'd seen dozens of trophies in his study to prove it. But in her heart, something told her that this wasn't safe. Every time Pegasus made a move, she held her breath. Somehow, she couldn't shake the feeling that he couldn't win this one alone.

Kaiba stood up. Barely a second had passed since Pegasus had attacked and taunted him. The mocking words had inflamed his anger. He could not let him win. He drew his card and added it to his hand.

"Alright you snake, I summon Vorse Raider in attack mode!" Vorse Raider appeared, looking angry. "Then I'll place two cards face down and end my turn."

"Very well. Now for the fun part! First I summon mystic tomato in attack mode! Next, I pay 1,000 of my life points to activate Toon World!" Seto watched with disgust as Pegasus' monsters became toons. Once the conversion was done, Pegasus spoke again. "Now I sacrifice my Toon Mystic Tomato and my Toon Witch Of The Black Forest to summon a monster you know quite well. Say hello again to Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon!"

Seto watched in horror as the toon appeared before him and cringed. The "monster" absolutely disgusted him. He had told Pegasus before that that toon stripped the original blue eyes of it's pride, and he stood by that statement now. And then, abruptly, he saw his deck beginning to glow again. He got the feeling that if he touched it it would vibrate too. But what did it mean? Were the Blue Eyes in his deck reacting to his emotions? Or was it something else entirely? He didn't know.

His feelings of disgust were only validated as the toon attacked.

"Blue eyes toon dragon, attack with white lightning!"

"Not so fast, Pegasus! I activate my ring of defense!"

Pegasus watched as the attack was diverted, but was not saddened.

"Ho hum. So you managed to repel my attack. It doesn't matter. You'll be defeated soon enough. I place one card face down and end my turn."

"Excellent. Now I activate the card Enemy Controller! With this card on my side I can control one of your monsters as my own. And I choose your Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon!"

Pegasus looked oddly curious about his monster choice as the Toon Dragon was moved to Seto's side of the field. "Now, Blue Eyes Toon Dragon, attack his Mage!"

With one blow, The Faceless Mage was gone. Pegasus lost 500 life points, as did Kaiba.

"Too bad you destroyed my Mage. Because it was wearing black pendant, it takes 500 points from you."

"A small price to pay. Now I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to take out your Toon World!"

Pegasus looked horrified as his beloved creation was destroyed. His blue eyes toon dragon gone with it.

"Finally, Vorse raider, attack him directly!"

Seto watched confidently as his monster flew forward, but his hopes were shattered as a trap was activated. Mirror wall shattered his monster, and he lost 1900 life points.

"Nice try, Kaiba-boy. But you'll have to have a better strategy than that to take me down!"

Kaiba's life points were down to 1,000. He knew this was his last shot. "I place two cards face down and end my turn."

"Back to me, then." Said Pegasus. "I summon rogue doll in Defense Mode!"

A mermaid in a clam holding a bow and arrow appeared. Seto didn't like the look of her. "I'll place one card face down, and that will be all for now."

Seto nodded. "I activate the trap card Solemn Wishes! This gives me 500 points for every card I draw! And now I activate graceful charity! This lets me draw three cards as long as I discard two from my hand. Now that that's settled, I summon Lord Of Dragons in attack mode! And I'll equip him with my flute of summoning dragon! And I'll use it to call forth my almighty Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

With a mighty roar, the blue eyes appeared on the field.

"Now, blue eyes, attack his rogue doll with white lightning!"

His rogue doll disappeared. Pegasus still had 1600 life points left. Kaiba had 2500.

"Well done, Kaiba-Boy." He said, clapping slowly to mock him. "You managed to make quite a turn around on me. I must admit that I'm impressed. You've managed to get the upper hand on me, something that only Yugi-Boy here has been able to do."

Kaiba didn't take his eyes off of Pegasus to look at Yugi. He didn't trust him for a second. Kisara had the urge to step forward and take her husband's hand, just to reassure herself that he was still there.

"Now then, I have one last move that I think you'll enjoy. A move from quite a long time ago. So, I'll activate monster reborn! And I'll bring back my blue eyes toon dragon to rejoin our fun!" Pegasus chuckled delightedly. He saw the tiny dragon reappear on his side, and saw Kaiba's expression. It made him laugh. He may not have been able to see in Kaiba's mind the way he once had, but he didn't need to to know that this horrified him. Seeing his obvious horror was almost as good as defeating him. Almost. But savoring this expression would make it that much sweeter.

Kaiba felt a disgusted shutter go through him as the dragon reappeared back on the field. Pegasus was still chuckling, but he found no humor in the situation. It was his blue eyes versus its toon counterpart. Every moment had come down to this.

It would all end with blue eyes' battle to the finish.


	35. Millennium Mash Up Duel: Part 3

Seto and Pegasus eyed each other from across the arena. They both knew they had everything to gain from this final battle, and even more so everything to lose. No one spoke, and for a while, it was quiet. It was Kaiba's turn. He knew he couldn't attack. Both of their monsters would be destroyed if he did that. So he was silent, thinking over his options. There was only one way Seto was getting out of this alive. And it all depended on three cards in his deck and one in his hand. He drew his card- noting the increase in his life points as he did so, and got the first card he needed.

"I activate pot of greed!" He said. He drew two more cards, praying with all his might that he would draw the two cards he needed. His purpose in doing so combined with his will was so strong that it influenced fate, and he drew his cards, hoping with all his heart that they would be enough. He took in a breath, and opened his eyes.

There they were. The cards he needed.

Slowly, a smile- a cruel smirk returned to his lips. The look unsettled Pegasus, who decided to try and take a look into his opponents mind. Seto could feel it as soon as he tried. It was a pressure against his mind, trying to break through the thin shield provided by the millennium rod. It wasn't painful, but it wasn't pleasant. Seto knew the thin shield couldn't be pierced, and so he widened his smile, knowing that it would drive Pegasus mad to see him that way. Pegasus scowled at him angrily. The pressure increased, but it could not break the shield.

"It's over, Pegasus!" Called Seto. "First I'll activate my second flute of summoning dragon and bring forth my second blue eyes!" Pegasus watched as the second blue eyes appeared. Although Kaiba could not tell from his distance away from him, Pegasus paled at the sight of the second monster. One blue eyes attack might destroy one, but the second attack would eliminate his life points completely. He kept his face carefully blank. Kaiba continued on without him. "I'm not done yet, Pegasus! Now I activate Monster Reborn, and bring forth my final blue eyes!"

When the third dragon appeared, Pegasus knew he was done for, but he refused to accept it. He had to find some way to change it. Seto Kaiba would not upstage him in his own game. Why had he of all people gotten everything Pegasus had ever wanted for himself? Especially when he hadn't been looking for it! Fate had been cruel and taken his love away at that same age. He looked at Kisara and saw the life his wife should have had. He looked at Kaiba and saw pieces of the man he'd once been. Seeing it was an overwhelming reminder of all he'd lost. So he tried to destroy it when he saw it instead of facing the bitter truth: that he would never have that again.

Kaiba was completely confident that he had the entire duel wrapped up. One more card, and it would be over. "And now, for my final move, I play Polymerization, fusing my three blue eyes into Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

Kaiba, Pegasus, and their spectators watched as the dragons fused into a three headed monster. Seto waited until Pegasus looked him in the eyes before calling out the last attack.

"Now, Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, end this duel with your Neutron Energy Blast!"

All three mouths opened, and white orbs formed in their mouths. His tiny blue eyes toon dragon began to attack too, but it was like a baby trying to take on an adult.

The three blasts coalesced into one blast, and fired at the helpless toon. In three mere seconds, it was gone.

"No!" Pegasus cried as he was blinded by the light of the attack. His life points plummeted to zero, and he stood momentarily shocked by his loss. He knew he had to act quickly or he would lose his window of opportunity. He wasn't one for dirty handed tactics, but desperate times called for desperate measures. There was only one way he could still win. He leapt from his side of the dueling platform while the light was still blinding, and bolted to where he could see Kisara standing. She let out a terrified scream before Pegasus held her in a headlock.

When the light cleared, Seto whirled around to see Kisara in Pegasus' grip.

"I do hate getting my hands dirty, but sometimes it can't be helped." He said. Seto's face twisted into something cruel, cold, and ugly, and gave Pegasus a look so scathing it almost made the man begin to shake.

"Get away from my wife!" He hissed. It was a tone that clearly stated "final warning". To hear the word "wife" come from the mouth of Seto Kaiba was still surprising, but no one dared question him. Pegasus was unnerved by his voice, but he couldn't back down now.

"Not going to happen!" He said. Seto leapt gracefully over one bar of the platform and landed on his feet in front of Pegasus.

"You want me? Come and face me like a man instead of hiding behind my wife like a coward!" He spat. Pegasus' expression grew stony.

"You dare call me a coward?!" He barked.

"It's all you've ever been!" Kaiba snapped. The words were the last straw. Pegasus flung Kisara to the ground and tried to use his millennium eye to penetrate Kaiba's mind again, but this time Kaiba was ready. He pulled out the millennium rod and fired back. Blue met red, resulting in a bright white light that engulfed both millennium item holders. They all ran towards the circle of white light, calling both of their names out, but neither Pegasus nor Kaiba could be felt inside of it.

They were gone.


	36. Blast From The Past

**Author's Note: Dialogue taken from Yu-Gi-Oh! Wikis' entry on episode 214. With the "-sama" removed, of course.**

Seto felt himself flying toward what looked to be an ancient city. And then, just as he thought he was going to crash onto the desert sands, he gently hovered above them, and saw what appeared to be an ancient version of himself. An older man sporting the millennium eye spoke to this look alike.

"Seto! Accept your Fate! Your Fate of the Pharaoh granted by me is Light and Shadow. Awaken to receive the power of the Dark and lead the world into a new age! Seto! You shall become the King and this land shall be yours to rule!"

The ancient version of him looked dazed. "Where is this...? Ah! Aknadin!"

"Look closely, Seto! With the new God, you shall hold the proof that you are the new Pharaoh! And that holder is heading over here!" He watched his ancient self turn to where Aknadin pointed and gasped in shock.

"Kisara!"

At his wife's name, Seto's eyes grew wide. He felt himself growing short of breath as the anxiety overtook his chest. "Seto! Your Fate is to become the new King!" Aknadin laughed. "It came. The holder of the White Dragon. Seto, you shall be granted the proof that you are the King."

Kisara ran up to Priest Seto's side, warning him not to listen to him. But the earth started shaking, and Aknadin announced Zorc's resurrection. Kaiba watched the dark one appear. Aknadin, who was now one with Zorc, ordered Seto to kill Kisara. Kaiba cringed at the words in disbelief.

Priest Seto spoke again. "Aknadin! Even if thou are my father, I won't sell my soul to the Dark! Let's go, Kisara!" He said, starting to leave with her.

"Seto! It is not possible for you to run from our set Fates!" Shouted Aknadin.

It jarred the memory of Ishizu's words loose in his own mind. "So you see, Kaiba, it was no coincidence that you met and married Kisara. You were destined to come together from the beginning. And now you must come together once more to defeat the new holder of the millennium eye."

He realized that he was seeing the past battle between the rod and the eye.

He watched as Aknadin tried to capture the two of them and How his wife's past incarnation fought against her oppressor. Even in an ancient form, she was protective of him. His counterpart was frantic, and Kaiba could only wonder what Pegasus was thinking of this little exchange.

"Stop, Kisara! You'll run out of BA!"

"It does not matter."

"What?"

"However... Seto... I shall protect thou from harm."

"Kisara...!"

Aknadin lost his patience. "What are you doing, Seto? Kill this girl and acquire the power of the White Dragon! Then, devote that power to Zorc and become the Dark King!"

"Thou are wrong! Aknadin: what logic is there to a world of Dark ruled by Zorc? Since I met Kisara, I realized how much of the world was Dark and dry. And the solution to make this Dark disappear is through this light called 'love'."

"Seto...!" She said, smiling.

"Foolish! And to think that you could surpass the loss which afflicted me!" Aknadin thundered.

"Kisara and I are not thy tools for revenge! The father I used to be proud of died long ago in the battlefield!"

"Seto!" Aknadin cried, enraged. He fired an energy blast at his son, and Kaiba watched as Kisara threw herself in front of him to save him. The image of her lying on the ground dead would be permanently branded into his memory. Even as a hallucination, it was too much. The Blue Eyes White Dragon was sealed into the stone tablet.

He watched his ancient counterpart kill his father, but couldn't do so before he took control of his mind. The scene brought back memories of Gozaburo Kaiba's own unsuccessful attempts to control him, and he had a gut feeling that this wouldn't last too long. The pharaoh, who looked and sounded so much like Yugi that Pegasus and himself shared a look, came to get his faithful priest, but Instead found another enemy awaiting him.

Then, an ancient duel began. The Dark Magician and Blue Eyes White Dragon battled one another. Kaiba realized that since the spirits of Priest Seto and Aknadin were merged together, their magic was twice as powerful. His Blue-Eyes White Dragon's Burst Stream of Destruction defeated Dark Magician's Magic Wave. The Dark Magician was destroyed, and The Pharaoh lost part of his life energy.

From inside of Priest Seto, Aknadin orders the Blue-Eyes White Dragon to attack the Pharaoh, but deep inside of his mind Priest Seto was resisting Aknadin's control. It would not bend to his will. Priest Seto murmured Kisara's name, And then suddenly the Blue-Eyes on the outside disintegrates and reappeared inside Seto's mind, breaking Aknadin's control over Seto. Aknadin's spirit was defeated and vanished. Inside his mind, Kisara spoke.

"Seto. Thou soul is no longer imprisoned by the Dark."

Kaiba watched his counterpart come to and call out Kisara's name in a broken tone. He watched him rush to her body, picking her up into his arms, begging her to wake up. It was precisely what he himself had had the urge to do when he saw her die in this vision. When his counterpart realized that she wouldn't wake up, he cradled her body to his chest and fell to his knees, sobbing as he held her up to the Blue-Eyes tablet. It was all he had left of her. And that's when Kaiba remembered that he had seen this exact scene before. Only once, in his battle with Ishizu. He felt it was important. That it meant something to see this, and the desperate need to figure out what it was made itself known. But before he could start getting answers, he was being sucked up into the white light from whence he came.

He woke up on the floor of the Kaibadome, back home once again.


	37. Reunited

Seto gasped for breath as he came to on the floor. The vision was so real, so startling, that he awoke anxiety-ridden, unable to breathe. He held his chest and sat up as his eyes darted around the room, looking for the one face that could bring him peace in this moment of chaos. It took him a moment, before he finally found his wife's face right next to him. He didn't realize that he was trembling as he reached out to touch her. He had to know that she was real. He stroked her cheek, feeling her velvet skin against the pad of his finger.

She saw the fear in his eyes, and didn't understand it. But it was real. As real as the clothes on his back. She smiled at him, and it seemed to make him fearful. Before she could ask what was wrong, he pulled her into a passionate kiss.

Seto couldn't stop himself from kissing his wife. He loathed public displays of affection. They were saved for the most rare and solemn of occasions. For him to do that told her that he was desperate. He was desperate to know that she was here, that she was alive, and that she would never suffer a fate similar to her past self.

Yugi and his friends watched their exchange with mild fascination. They were strangers to seeing Seto Kaiba affectionate to anyone but his son. To see him so clearly in love with Kisara was as strange as it was disgusting. Joey and Tristan made no attempt to mask their gagging noises. Téa thought it was sweet, and that left Yugi and Yami. Both of their minds were set on this: It was reassuring to see Kaiba show the emotions they both knew he had, but didn't express. But the greater part of their concentration was riveted on Pegasus, who hadn't yet stirred.

Kisara looked a bit dazed after the kiss, like it was a sweet dream she was thinking of. Then, her blue eyes focused again. Seto was looking at her as if she could float away and disappear any second. She held his face in her hands.

"What's wrong?"

He struggled to find the right words to explain his feelings. "I can't lose you." He whispered tersely. "I just can't. Not again. Not ever."

She stroked his face. "You won't." She assured him. But the words were cold comfort to him. She got the feeling that whatever had happened to him had stirred up old insecurities about his hand in her brief loss of life.

"It's happened before. It can happen again." He said, glumly.

"It won't. And you know why?"

He waited impatiently for her answer. She laughed at his stony expression. "Because I'm with you all the time. I'm in your thoughts, in your memories, in your heart. There will never be a day that goes by that you are without me. Even when I'm not physically there, I will always be there with you. Don't fret. You'll never lose me."

The words brought with them cashmere comfort. He relaxed slightly, but then noticed Pegasus beginning to move. Kisara followed his gaze and frowned.

Suddenly, a revelation struck Kaiba. The meaning he'd felt from the vision but hadn't had time to interpret became crystal clear. He couldn't defeat Pegasus without the help of his wife. That's why the vision happened. That's why the duel wasn't enough to take him down. That's why he couldn't win.

Seto put his left hand over hers, and she looked down at her hand then up at him.

"I can't do this without you." He said, staring at her with shimmering eyes. Her hand squeezed his own.

"You don't have to." They stared at each other a second longer before nodding in unison and getting to their feet. Seto pulled the millennium rod out in front of both of them. Kisara put her hands on it, as did Seto, and they held it out in front of Pegasus. Suddenly a pale blue glow enveloped them, and the power of the rod seemed to get stronger. Pegasus looked prepared to fight them, but before he could even make a move the rod fired a powerful blue stream of light that streaked across the distance between them and hit Pegasus square in the chest. He barely had any time to call out in pain before he was defeated once and for all. His mind was sent to the shadow realm, hopefully for good this time.

The Kaibas stood in a ready position in case it was a trick, but straightened out of their stance after a minute or two. Pegasus' security thugs dragged him away. Behind the Kaibas came a roaring sound that was as familiar to them as breathing. They looked to see a Blue-Eyes White Dragon roaring behind them, then dissipating into mist. Seto couldn't be sure wether it was a hologram, a vision, or if it was real, but he found that it was fate's way of telling him that he had done the right thing and that the worst was behind him.

But there was one last thing he needed to do before he could say his victory was complete. So he got out his cell phone and dialed the familiar number. After talking a short while he instructed Kisara to wait there. The others, who could have left at any time, chose to stay out of curiosity. For a solid hour there was nothing, and then the door was flung open and the sound of hurried footsteps reached their ears.

"Daddy!"

Kaiba opened his arms to have his son leap into them. He clutched him tight to his chest, kissing him over and over again, never wanting to let him go. His wife's arms were around them in the same second.

This was what he'd fought for. This was his life, his home, and his family. He loved them more than words could say.


	38. When All Is Said And Done

Seto held his wife and son in his arms for a long time. He finally let go when the door opened to three figures bathed in light. Two were easily recognizable: Charlotte and Kobe. The last was unseeable until she stepped into the light: Ishizu. Seto straightened instinctively. He stepped forward.

"Kaiba. I see you have defeated Pegasus." She said calmly, looking at the doorway where Pegasus was being hauled away.

"Yes I have." He said curtly, wondering what she was up to.

"Congratulations." She said, sincerely. He nodded his thanks.

"I have come back for the Millennium Rod." She said. Seto looked at the Rod in his hand with a certain level of fondness. He stared at it for a moment and said a silent goodbye and gave thanks for the item that had eventually led to his greatest triumph yet: The saving of his family. He held it in his hand for a fraction of a moment more before turning around to Ishizu. He set the Rod in Ishizu's hand and looked up at her.

"It has served me very well and is like an old friend to me now. Keep it safe, and may it give you the same happiness that it has given me and my family."

Ishizu nodded. "Thank you, Kaiba." She said. She waved goodbye to Yugi and his friends, and then left.

It was only then that Seto remembered that he was not alone with his family. He turned to see Yugi facing him. They stared at one another, having been enemies for years. At least, that's how he saw it. He knew Yugi did not see things the same way. Yugi considered him a friend. The sentiment disgusted him, quite frankly. He didn't need nor want anyone's friendship. He had his family, and that was enough for him. But despite all of the enmity between them, Seto did feel a certain level of gratitude to Yugi for what he did today. It was bold of him to show up as bait at his request. Most of his staff wouldn't do that, even though he paid them.

"Yugi," he said, quietly. Yugi looked up at him, large eyes sparkling. "Thanks." The word was said quietly, but they all heard it.

"Anytime." He replied. Feeling as though he had entertained them enough, he looked over to where Charlotte and Kobe stood. He smiled a rare smile at Charlotte, who had one hand on her son's head. They looked at one another, and didn't need words to say what they were thinking. Their families were whole, their sons were happy, and they would all have a future together. There was nothing more they could ask for. Still, Seto felt the need to go up to her.

"Thank you, Charlotte." He said. She smiled at him.

"Of course." She pulled him into a hug. While the gesture made him mildly uncomfortable, he brushed the feeling aside. She had earned this. When she pulled away, she was smiling. "I'll see you next Tuesday for our play date?"

He nodded. "I'll see you then."

Charlotte said goodbye to Kisara, gave Mokuba a hug, gave Kobe a chance to say goodbye to Mokuba, and then left the stadium, leaving the Kaiba family alone for the first time that day. Kisara put her hand on her husband's chest as he snaked an arm around her waist. He breathed in her familiar scent and felt calm wash over him. The worst was finally over. All the nerves and fear had been swept away, leaving him feeling at peace for the first time in weeks. He looked down to see Mokuba yawning as he reached up to be picked up. Seto automatically settled him on his hip. Kisara moved to grab his hand.

"Let's go home." He said quietly. Kisara nodded, and the three of them made their way to the limousine sitting behind the theme park.

The drive home was pleasant and quiet. No one said anything- they didn't need to. Seto watched Mokuba fall asleep in his lap. He had gotten up early. He more than deserved a nap. Seto stroked his hair, smiling as he saw his son smile in his sleep. It was time for him to get to be a child again. He more than deserved his peace and security.

They arrived back at the manor and Seto carefully picked up his son, making sure he was never jostled. He and Kisara took him into the nursery and kissed him goodnight together. Then, their fingers entwined between them, they went to their bedroom, shutting the door behind them.

Kisara didn't hesitate to kiss her husband. She was so proud of him, and relieved too. The nightmare that had consumed their lives for a month was finally over. They could pick up where they left off and live normal lives now. No one trying to kill them, no danger waiting at their doorstep. Just peace.

Seto looked into his wife's eyes, smiling at her. After all they'd been through together, moments like these were made even more precious. She was the reason he'd fought so hard. She was his light in the dark. And he wouldn't trade her for the world.

"I love you." He said. She grinned and kissed him.

"I love you too. I'm just glad it's all finally over."

He nodded solemnly. "Me too. Now we can get back to being a normal family."

Kisara snorted. "Have you met us? We aren't even close to being normal."

"True." He conceded. "But at least now we'll be close."

"Yes we will. You, me, and Mokuba. We'll be together forever."

"Forever." He murmured. He caressed her face gently in his strong hands. "It feels like it's been forever since we've had a moment alone."

"Then let's make the most of it together." She said, coyly.

As the two of them began to kiss, Seto felt a calmness come over him. They would have forever together. It was amazing to believe that his forever had come so fast. But he supposed that was just the way life was. As he pulled his wife closer to him, one thought crossed his mind: Some things, he knew, were simply destined to be.


	39. Bonus Chapter: Author's Playlist

**Author's Note: Hey guys! It's hard to believe that another story is already over! I wanted to thank you guys for being such awesome readers, so I thought you guys would like to see the playlist I listened to while writing this story. I hope it gives you a little insight into the story and into my mind. Thank you guys so much for reading! I love you all!**

 **With Love,**

 **Holly**

Seto and Kisara Playlist

1\. Heart Of Stone- Iko

Seto's life and personality before Kisara.

2\. In My Head- Jason Derulo

Seto cannot stop thinking about Kisara after their first meeting.

3\. Perfect- One Direction

Seto considers a casual relationship with Kisara.

4\. Fallin' For You- Colbie Calliat

Kisara falls in love with Seto.

5\. Nothing But The Radio- Maia Sharp

Seto and Kisara make love for the first time.

6\. Secret- The Pierces

Seto and Kisara keep their new relationship a secret.

7\. She's So Gone- Naomi Scott

Kisara's personality changes since meeting Seto.

8\. Even If We Try- Night Beds

Kisara is kidnapped.

9\. Forever- Rascal Flatts

Seto performs CPR on Kisara

10\. Crash (Feat. Jonah Johnson)- Esthero

Seto breaks down in Kisara's hospital room.

11\. Wanna Hear Your Voice- Taps /Hallelujah- Rufus Wainwright

Seto waits for Kisara to awaken.

12\. A Thousand Years (Parts 1 and 2)- Christina Perri

Kisara wakes up.

13\. Will You Marry Me- John Berry

Seto proposes to Kisara.

14\. I Get To Love You- Ruelle

Seto and Kisara marry.

15\. The Wolves (Act I and II)- Bon Iver

Pegasus decides to destroy Kaiba's family

16\. Hurt- Johnny Cash

Seto learns he will have to leave Mokuba during his meeting with Colten Sterling.

17\. When I'm Gone (Explicit Version)- Eminem

Seto and Mokuba say goodbye.

18\. Like Toy Soldiers- Eminem

Seto and Pegasus begin their duel.

19\. I Remember You- The Tenors

Seto sees how his ancient self and Kisara's ancient counterpart met and how she was killed.

20\. Beautiful Pain- Eminem

Seto returns to the present day.

21\. My Cadence (Feat. Emily Matthews)- Aviators

Seto and Kisara work together to defeat Pegasus.

22\. When All Is Said And Done- Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep

Seto, Kisara, and Mokuba are reunited.


End file.
